Dungeontale Explorers of Sky
by Silver-the-Cat21
Summary: An anmesiac human turned monster and a well-meaning coward happen to meet. Little do they know, their meeting happens to change the fate of the entire world. A crossover between Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Undertale. I suck at summaries. Reviews are very appreciated. And enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: A Storm At Sea

_"Ow….H-Hey, wait a minute, Frisk!"_

All they could hear was ringing. They tried to move, but everything hurt too much. Everything seemed to be so foggy, especially their thoughts.

 _"Easy there….Y-You okay? I….I don't think…."_

Groggily, they tried to open their eyes. They got them open just a bit before they slipped close again. All they could see was just several blurry figures of dark orange red, yellow, and deep blue. They doubted that it was actually anybody, probably just the surrounding areas.

 _"Whoa! Wait….Frisk, just hang on for a little longer!"_

With a jolt of alarm, they realized they were slowly drifting off again. They tried to stay conscious for just a little longer. But it was no use. Suddenly, they couldn't hear or feel anything anymore.

 _"FRISK! WAIIIIIIIIT!"_

* * *

Sunset had already fallen by the time Monster Kid made it to the hill. He looked up at the tent, which was made to look like a smiling skeleton, and frowned slightly, swishing his tail nervously. He paced around a bit as well, before standing firmly in front of it.

"N-No! I can't wait any longer!" He declared, taking a deep breath. "This is it, I've gotta be brave today!" Without any hesitation, he stood on a steel grate in front of him. After a few moments, a rather loud voice drifted up to him, making the child jump slightly.

"Monster Detected! Monster Detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is **Reptilian**! The footprint is **Reptilian**!"

"A-Aaah!" Monster Kid ran backwards from the gate, breathing sharply before calming down. "Y-Yo….that was way too shocking…." He sighed, looking down. But it wasn't at the ground, it was at a strange rock tied around his neck. It had a strange symbol inscribed on it, one that he couldn't quite recognize, but still liked anyways. "Man...And I thought that holding onto my special treasure today would've helped me...But I guess not. Yo, this absolutely sucks….I should've known I would've been too much of a coward…."

Sighing, Monster Kid turned and began walking back down the cliff, head down and tail dragging behind him. But he didn't quite see two other monsters emerge from the shadows. One of them looked, frankly, like a roach with beady little eyes that still followed the poor child as he walked away. The other looked like some kind of cyclops, even with little horns sticking out of its head.

"Hey, Migosp….You see what that kid had on him?" The cyclops asked, grinning as it looked over to their partner. "He had somethin' pretty good, didn't he?"

"You bet he did, Loox." The bug, Migosp, said, with an equally wide grin. "Looked like some kind of treasure to me!"

"So, what do we do?" Loox asked. "Do we go after him?"

"We do." Migosp said with a nod. The two exchanged a glance before they began following right behind the poor child.

* * *

Monster Kid eventually made it to where he wanted to go. The beach. Sun had already begun to sink underneath the waves, and some of the Water-type monsters that lived in the area had already begun blowing several bubbles into the air. He ran right to the water's edge, looking out at the gorgeous view with sparkling eyes.

"Oh man! I'm really glad I didn't miss this! I was actually worried for bit that they'd already started and all the bubbles would be gone!" He said excitedly. "...Every single sunset, any monster that lives near the beach comes down and starts blowing bubbles. Then they start reflecting the light the sun gives off as its setting. I always love coming here….especially when I'm feeling like total trash…..like now…."

Monster Kid let out a sigh, before he was about to begin walking back. However, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him do a double-take.

"Yo, what's going on over there?" He asked himself, slowly walking forwards. However, he soon realized that the thing was literally another monster lying face-down in the sand. He also quickly discovered that the waves were slowly pulling the monster into the sea. "Y-Yo! That's a monster over there! And they're…..H-Hey! Yo, you okay?!"

Monster Kid ran over, bending down near the monster and even poking them once or twice with his tail. The monster soon gave a soft groan, pushing themselves up while holding their head.

"Yo, you're awake! Awesome!" He said as the monster steadied themselves and stood upright. "You weren't moving at ALL before, so I got really worried. How did you even end up unconscious on the beach." The monster scratched at their head, a bit confused. I...had been unconscious? They thought, trying to think. A massive wave of confusion and slight panic washed over them as they realized all they could remember was their name, and the fact they were human. They told Monster Kid this, only to get a confused look in reply.

"But….dude, you say you're a human….but you don't look like a human." The child said, tilting his head slightly. "You look like an ordinary monster to me!" They couldn't understand it. They were human, right? Remembering they were right next to the sea, they got onto their knees and peered down into their reflection.

They were absolutely covered in snow-white fur, although strangely enough, they had dark brown, almost human-looking hair covering most of their head. Long floppy ears replaced what would've been their ears had they been human, as well as little tiny goat horns poking their way out. They wore a dark, cyan blue sweater with lighter purple stripes and a heart locket. They touched a hand, or rather paw, to their face, before letting out a small gasp and backing away.

"You know…..you're kinda weird…." Monster Kid said, backing away a bit. "Um….Are you pulling some sort of trick on me?" The Monster spun around to face them, shaking their head and making "No! No!" gestures. "Okay then…..your name. Dude, what's your name then?" Their name…..Ah, that's right, their name….

Their name was **Frisk**.

"Your name is Frisk? Okay…." Monster Kid thought for a minute, before giving a big grin. "Well my name's Monster Kid! It's great to meet you, and at least you aren't a bad monster either! Y'see, more and more Monsters have been becoming really big jerks over the past couple of day. Things have gotten really crazy over the past few days."

Before Frisk could say anything else, two monsters (the ones who had been watching him b came up from behind Monster Kid. The bigger of the two, Loox, gave him a huge push, causing him to stumble forwards and fall right on his face. The small rock he had tied around his neck flew off, landing in the sand not too far from them.

"Well, I certainly beg your pardon." Loox sneered. Monster Kid pulled himself up, somehow managing the feet without even having arms, before turning to the two thugs angrily.

"Yo! What's the whole deal?" He demanded, his tail lashing wildly. Migosp walked out from behind Loox, snickering to himself.

"What'd you think, you were in the way and we wanted to mess with you!" The roach said. "But whatever. That thing over there is your's, ain't it?" He pointed to the rock, making Monster Kid's eyes widen in alarm.

"W-What? N-No….I-"

"Tough luck, kiddo!" Migosp rushed forwards, scooping up the rock before literally crawling up and onto the top of Loox's head. "We'll be takin' this with us!"

"Dang, you're not even gonna make a move to get it back?" Loox asked, laughing slightly. "What's wrong, too scared to get it back? You're more of a coward than I would've thought!" The two began walking past them, laughing the whole time.

"Oooh…." Monster Kid said, staring down at the ground as tears began to form in his eyes. "T-That was my personal treasure….It means the whole world to me…." Frisk bit their lip (immediately regretting it as they got a bit of fur in their mouth, that would certainly take some getting used to) and thought carefully. They really wanted to help, but they felt it wouldn't be a good idea to fight it about it.

"No, that's it! I've gotta go get it back!" Monster Kid suddenly said, snapping Frisk out of their thoughts. "Um….Yo, Frisk! Why don't you come help me?" Now they really had no choice, not when someone was asking them to help. They nodded and told him that they would help.

"Y-You will?!" Monster kid looked shocked, before his entire face lit up. "Y-Yo, awesome! Let's go, this way!" He ran after the two bullies, leaving Frisk to hurry behind.

Turns out the two had unknowingly ventured into a beach-side cave. There were a few other, more wild monsters in there, but they were no match for the duo. The only thing was Frisk didn't exactly like fighting others, so Monster Kid took the lead when exploring the cave. After several rooms and even climbing further down into the cave, they came out into a small clearing that was somehow filled with light. Both Loox and Migosp stood on the other end, as if they were trying to figure out a way out of the small clearing.

"Y-Yo! You two, right there!" Monster Kid yelled, taking a step forwards and actually making the two bullies jump a bit before they turned. "Give….Give me back what you took from me! Give me back my treasure!"

"Heh-heh-heh, so this piece of junk is actually worth something, huh?" Migosp asked, looking at the rock in his claw. "Thanks for letting us know then, kid!"

"Yeah, all the more reason not to give it back then!" Loox said, laughing. Monster Kid was taken back by this, backing away while looking extremely upset.

"If you want it back so badly kid…." Migosp said, throwing the rock into the air and catching it. "Then come and get it!" Loox charged forwards, disappearing to either the left or right once or twice. Once he reached them, however, he lashed out at Monster Kid immediately. The child flinched slightly, but tried to hit the cyclops back with his tail. Only to be stopped by Migosp's Scratch attack. Unable to watch their friend be hurt like this any longer, Frisk finally took a stand.

Frisk didn't even think, they just did the most natural thing to them. They opened their mouth, only to see small bolts of fire shoot out and hit both of the Monsters. Loox didn't seem to be too affected by it, although it obviously still hurt, while Migosp was sent to the ground after the attack. Monster Kid took advantage of the momentary confusion after Frisk's sudden attack and let loose a huge electrical outburst. This one sent Loox reeling back from it, falling onto his back.

"Owww….." He groaned, pushing himself into a sitting position.

"We-we got…..roughed up…." Migosp hissed, hitting one of his many legs against the sand in order to put out the tiny fire. Both Monster Kid and Frisk backed away so the two bullies could stand up once more.

"Fine, take the stupid thing then." The roach monster yelled, throwing the rock down in the sand. "But don't think you two are cool or anything!"

"Yeah, your victory was only a fluke!" Loox added. Before Monster Kid or Frisk could do a thing, the two ran past them back into the Beach Cave. Monster Kid, instead of pursuing them, ran forwards and grabbed onto the rock using his tail, holding it close to his body while sighing gratefully.

"Oh man….I thought I'd never be able to get it back….I'm so relieved, man!" Monster Kid said, before he turned back to Frisk. "And, it's all thanks to you that I was able to get back, Frisk. So thanks! Thanks a lot!"

* * *

The duo's journey back through the Beach Cave was so much easier than the journey in. In fact, it even felt like they had just appeared on the other end just by walking through the way they came from. Halfway down the beach, Monster Kid spun around to face Frisk, shifting his tail, which was still holding his special treasure tightly.

"Yo, I really want to thank you, Frisk. You helped me get my special treasure back and I...I thought I would've never get it back." He admitted, beaming widely. Frisk wondered for a moment if what they had done was the right thing. Was it really a good idea to help out with something like this? But seeing Monster Kid's smile made it feel worth it. It was truly nice to be appreciated. "This is what they stole, by the way. I call it my relic fragment!"

Frisk asked what was so important about the rock. It seemed to just be an ordinary stone, possibly something the monster had found on the side of the road one day. That is, however, before they caught sight of the strange inscription on the flat end of it. It was a swirl that spiraled out and ended with three extended lines, curved and almost mystical in a way. It made their heart race for some reason, and they didn't know why.

"Noticed why it's so important, huh?" Monster Kid asked, clearing taking note of Frisk's sudden interest. "Y'see the pattern on it? Doesn't it just make your heart race? It's what inspired me to get really interested in exploring, old legends, monsters who can bend reality or heroes who helped the rest of us. And I just got so excited all of a sudden!" He turned to face the sunset, eyes sparkling even more than the sea if that was even possible. "Learning old legends, discovering new places. And to make historic discoveries! Wouldn't that just be so exciting?! That's why, earlier, I tried to join a guild so I could become an explorer. The only problem was...I chickened out." He sighed, shaking his head before he turned back to Frisk. "Yo, Frisk. I was curious...So you said you were human, right? But, now you're suddenly a monster with no clue how you turned into one. What're you gonna do now, dude?"

Frisk crossed their arms and thought. It was certainly true they had no idea how or why they were suddenly turned into a monster, or even who they really were. They only knew they were human once and that their name was Frisk. But where was Monster Kid even going with this?

"Listen, if you don't have anywhere to go...or anything to do..." Monster Kid said, somehow managing to put his relic fragment back around his neck using his tail. "Would you form an exploration team with me? I feel we could become a top-notch exploration team if we work together. So...Please? Pretty please?" Frisk thought even more. It was completely true they had nowhere else to go, or anything to do. Maybe...joining up with this monster would help them figure out who they were.

Their mind made up, they told Monster Kid exactly what their answer was.

"Y-You'll do it?! Yo, dude that's awesome!" Monster Kid yelled, even jumping up slightly out of pure joy. "So, first thing we gotta do is join Papyrus's guild and start training there. Then...Then we're gonna become the best exploration team ever, I just know it!" He held out his tail, almost as a replacement to holding a hand out. Frisk did the same with one of their paws, gripping onto the tail and shaking it firmly.

Both of them knew that this would be the start of a great adventure.

 ** _Dungeontale; Explorers of Sky_**

* * *

 _A/N: So I'm doing this because 1) Explorers of Sky is my favorite Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game and Undertale is one of my favorite games period. And 2) I thought that this would be a fun thing to do. I also love seeing those things where people compare the monsters from Undertale to Pokemon. I think those kind of things are really cool._

 _Anyways, I'd love to hear any feedback on this. It'd be really helpful. Also, I hope you all like the character roster I put together for this. I personally like it and think it's a good fit. But whatever. I hope you all enjoy!_


	2. Chapter 2: The New Guild Recruits

Two torches on the side of the tent had been lit, casting a rather eerie shadow over the tent. Both Frisk and Monster Kid approached it slowly, stopping just in front of the grate. They just looked up at it, before Monster Kid took in a sharp breath of air and finally turned to Frisk.

"This is Papyrus's exploration guild. It's been said that both him and his brother are world-famous explorers." He explained. "He formed a guild and now all of the teams who graduate become world-famous explorers too!" He took another deep breath, before stepping onto the grate.

"Monster Detected! Monster Detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is Reptilian! The footprint is Reptilian!"

"Stay brave, dude...Stay brave!" Monster Kid told himself, shaking slightly. There was a small delay in between the voices, but one of the two monsters who had been shouting up at them finally shouted something back up.

"Okay, you can go in. BUT! I can sense that there's another monster up there with you!" The voice shouted. "So whoever's with you, get them to stand up there with you!" Monster Kid stepped aside, before motioning to the grate with his tail.

"Yo…Frisk, I'm pretty sure they mean you." He said, sounding even more relieved than when they had gotten his relic fragment back. "Ya just gotta stand on the grate right there!" Frisk considered the grate. It was situated right above a hole, and it looked sturdy enough to hold someone. That's when they also happened to realize that they didn't have any shoes whatsoever, strange that they hadn't exactly noticed that until now. The grate could possibly tickle their feet, or-

"HEY! Get on the grate already! We don't have all day!" The voice yelled, snapping Frisk out of their thoughts. They stepped forwards, flinching slightly as they stood on the cold metal.

"Monster detected! Monster detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is….er….The footprint is…." The first voice actually hesitated, almost as if they couldn't figure it out.

"What? What's wrong? Sentry?" The second voice called, almost sounding just as confused as the first. "Is there a problem, sentry Vegetoid?"

"The footprint….is…." The first voice, Vegetoid, seemed extremely hesitant. Down underneath the grate, carrot-shaped monster kept looking up at the footprint, looking as if it was thinking rather hard, before it turned to the tunnel not far from it. "Maybe Goat! Maybe Goat!"

"Apologies, but what?!" The second voice asked. "You're the sentry, right Vegetoid? Aren't you supposed to be able to identify the footprints of passing monsters?"

"Well, yeah…." Vegetoid said, shifting slightly in his spot. "But I don't know what I don't know…..Plus, don't you have magic?! You identify the monster then!"

Above ground once more, both Frisk and Monster Kid exchanged a glance, unsure of what to do. That is, however, before the second voice began yelling back up at them once more.

"Hmm….Fair point. It's true you don't see too many goat monsters around here." They said. "Okay! Hocus pocus, you can enter!" There was a slight woosh sound and a small explosion of sparkles right by the entrance to the tent. The gate blocking the entrance raised, revealing a ladder leading further underground.

The duo climbed down, landing in a rather large room. There were several monsters looking at two boards on the wall, all of them most likely exploration teams. There was yet another ladder leading further down, situated right next to the ladder they had climbed down in order to get to the room.

"Woah! Do you think all of the other monsters in here are exploration teams?" Monster Kid asked, practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. "I wonder if any of them are apprentices too!"

" **Hey. You two.** " A low voice suddenly said, coming from behind them and making the two jump slightly. " **You two are the ones who just came in, right? Don't you know how to greet someone. Turn around and face me.** " Monster Kid began trembling once more, clearly a bit too scared to turn and face whoever was behind them. Frisk instead took a deep breath, before spinning around to face whoever it was.

Frankly, they weren't expecting what they saw.

The monster behind them was a skeleton, wearing a blue hoodie, black shorts, and pink slippers. It looked as if they had a permanent smile, but it was hard to tell considering they wore joke glasses with a big nose and fake mustache attached to it.

"heh….guess you two weren't expecting that now, were you?" The skeleton asked, snickering slightly at Frisk's confused expression. And then at Monster Kid's even more confused look. "the name's sans, sans the skeleton. i guess you can call me the right-hand monster to my brother, papyrus. well, it's more like he's my bro. but i'm also the monster in the know 'round these parts."

"Well, it's awesome to meet you then!" Monster Kid said, as Sans took his joke glasses off to reveal eye sockets with little white dots as his pupils. "Wait….That means you're THE Sans? As in the actual world-famous explorer and brother to Papyrus?!" Sans just shrugged, looking rather amused.

"yeah, you could say that's me." He said. "now, you might wanna get out. no interviews, surveys, or whatever else my bro put on the sign up there. we just don't have any time for stuff like that, y'know?" Frisk, knowing that was the exact opposite of why both of them were there, quickly said that they just wanted to become apprentices.

"Yeah! We wanna become a real exploration team!" Monster Kid said. Sans considered the two for a moment, before laughing slightly.

"man, never thought we'd get two kids wanting to train. i would've thought that the stream of monsters running away from pap's program would be enough to deter anyone." He shook his head, before seemingly addressing the two once more. "you say you wanna become apprentices, yeah? well, come with me then. we gotta go talk to papyrus so we can sign you up."

The skeleton led them down the ladder. The bottom floor seemed to be where most of the apprentices were at the moment. Including a frog monster right next to a cauldron and a weird magician-like monster floating close to a hole leading downwards. Sans stopped right next to a door, although Monster Kid gave a "Yo!" as he ran over to a nearby window.

"Look at this, Frisk! We're two floors underground, but you can still see the sea outside!" He said, clearly amazed.

"well, the whole place kinda is built on the side of a cliff." Sans pointed out. "it makes sense that you can sea the ocean from here. anyways. my bro's room is just beyond this door right here. just gonna say this, i wouldn't make him mad or anything. or else you're gonna have to deal with him when he's mad. and you will not like him when he's mad. like actually mad. just a tip." He turned to the door, knocking on the door twice.

"WHO'S THERE?" A loud, rather high-pitched voice asked.

"lettuce."

"LETTUCE WHO?"

"can you **lettuce** in? it's just me, bro, and i'm coming in."

Sans pushed the door open, waving to the duo so they knew it was okay to follow him. The room in question looked more akin to something a child would have, with a giant skull-and-crossbones flag hanging in the very back of the room. There were a few shelves on the walls, holding what were either treasure or….action figures. Finally, another skeleton stood just in front of the flag, his hands firmly planted on his hips. He wasn't facing them either, for whatever reason.

"hey, papyrus. two kids wanna join the guild. so i thought i should bring'em to you." Sans said simply. But the skeleton, Papyrus, didn't turn at all. "uh….papyrus?"

"NYEH!" Papyrus suddenly turned sharply, making both Monster Kid and Frisk jump slightly. "SO? NEW MEMBERS WHO WANT TO BECOME INFAMOUS EXPLORERS AS WELL? WELL! THAT'S WONDERFUL NEWS!"

Papyrus was much taller than his brother. And he wore what could be described as a homemade suit of armor. He also had a bright red scarf, its edges torn slightly due to age. He also wore similarly red gloves and boots, both with golden edges as well.

"SO, ENOUGH WITH ANY INTRODUCTIONS. YOU MUST ALREADY KNOW WHO I AM. AFTER ALL, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Papyrus said, putting a hand on his chin. "BUT ENOUGH WITH THAT. WHAT ABOUT YOU? FUTURE APPRENTICES? WHAT IS YOUR EXPLORATION TEAM NAME?"

"Exploration team….name?" Monster Kid repeated, tilting his head slightly.

"yeah. you need a team name if you're gonna be an exploration team." Sans explained. "can't be an exploration team if you don't have a name, after all."

"Our team name….Shoot, I didn't think of that." Monster Kid said, biting his lip. "Yo, Frisk. You got any ideas for a team name?" Frisk thought for a moment, even crossing their arms and narrowing their eyes slightly.

A team name? They probably should've thought of that before they just charged in head-first. What would be a good team name for the two of them? Team….Team….

That's when it hit Frisk. They excitedly told Monster Kid their idea. Monster Kid also seemed to like that name as well, since he grinned widely and nodded.

"Yeah! I like that name! I think it suits us!" He said, before the two turned back to Papyrus. "Yo, we got a team name! And it's a good one too!"

"NOT TO WORRY, MY YOUNG FRIEND, FOR I HAD HEARD WHAT YOUR TEAM NAME IS!" Papyrus said. "SO, ALLOW ME TO REGISTER YOUR TEAM IN OUR DATABANKS! REGISTERING….REGISTERING….THERE WE GO. NYEH HEH HEH!" The entire room flashed, as Papyrus gave a jump, before he began digging around in his pockets...that he somehow had. He pulled out a small yellow box, almost running to the middle of the room and setting the box down. "GO ON, HAVE A PEEK. THIS IS TO CELEBRATE YOU BECOMING A PART OF OUR GUILD!"

Frisk was the first to walk forwards and open it. Besides an out of place plate of spaghetti, the box contained a bag and map. Monster Kid, who also saw the bag and map, excitedly explained the bag was called a treasure bag and that it held anything you found on adventures. Meanwhile, the map was called a wonder map and would show you where you were. There were also badges in the bag, along with a faded red ribbon and yellow bandana with...what looked like abs printed on it.

"OH! THOSE ARE ALSO PRESENTS FROM ME! TO PROVE OUR NEW COOPERATION!" Papyrus added. "THAT FADED RIBBON MIGHT IMPROVE YOUR SPECIAL ATTACK, AND I THINK THAT'S A MANLY BANDANA THAT'LL IMPROVE PHYSICAL ATTACKS!"

"Woah! That's so cool!" Monster Kid said, as Frisk took both of the items and even helped Monster Kid tie the bandana around his neck (which also helped to cover up his relic fragment). "This is just so cool, it's like we're an actual exploration team now!"

"once you get through the training, that is." Sans said. "gotta complete the training, then you get to be a fully-fledged exploration team. but just lookin' at you two, i can tell you're gonna do okay."

"I AGREE! I'M POSITIVE THAT YOU'LL BOTH DO GREAT HERE! BUT DON'T FORGET TO WORK EXTRA HARD TOO!" Papyrus agreed. "JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELVES!"

"Of course we will!" Monster Kid said, while Frisk nodded with a determined expression.

Team **DETERMINATION** ….They were going to go far, Frisk could feel it.

* * *

"Abracadabra! You two are now going to wake up!" Frisk squirmed slightly. After they had finished registering, Sans had taken them to where they would be staying while they trained with the guild, while also giving them advice they needed to get some sleep for their training tomorrow.

"Ugggh….Is it morning yet….?" Monster Kid groaned, just as something suddenly hit the two. Frisk shot up, rubbing their face before they looked at their paw. It was completely covered with glitter of all things.

"Indeed it is! Now, please and thank you, get up already!" The same voice yelled, just as even more glitter hit the two. Frisk shook the glitter out of their eyes, blinking several times just to have everything come into focus once more.

It turns out the same magician monster they had seen the other day. Two orbs hung in the air next to it, as it floated above the other two monsters.

"Hocus pocus, are you two up now? It's almost time for morning roll call!" The monster said. "If you don't get up now, alakazam, the guildmaster will be rather upset. And nobody enjoys seeing the guildmaster upset." It gave a small, involuntary shiver, as if reliving a bad memory. "Ooooh, I would not like to see that! Tinkle tinkle hoy….Guildmaster Papyrus isn't exactly fun when he's angered! And I know I don't want to get in trouble if you two are late. So I'd get up!" And with that, the monster flew back out of the room.

"What was it saying…..I still feel half-asleep…." Monster Kid said, standing up and stretching. "It sounded like it said….that we….Oh shoot, we overslept Frisk!" Frisk had half a mind to say that they weren't the one who overslept, but decided against it. Instead, the two both raced out and joined the other apprentices out in front of Papyrus's room.

The rest of the apprentices were all made up of rather strange monsters (although it might've looked like that since Frisk couldn't remember seeing any other kind of monster). There were the previously mentioned magician monster who had woken them up and the frog Frisk had seen the other day. But there was also a rather small airplane hovering above two vegetable-like monsters. Another group, this one of a duck with a head shaped like a snowflake, a small, frail looking bug, and a small angler fish with what looked like hair covering most of their face, stood not too far away. Sans, who was not far from the door to Papyrus's room, turned as the duo ran in.

"nice. looks like we've got everyone." He said. "don't worry 'bout being late. i sleep in a lot too. guess you could say i'm…. **bone** tired most of the time." There was a muffled groan, most likely from Papyrus on the other side. "yo, bro. if you're ready, you should probably come out already."

"IT IS CALLED MAKING AN ENTRANCE!" Came Papyrus's reply. "BUT FINE! I'M COMING OUT RIGHT NOW!" The door opened and Papyrus came out.

"alright, so blah blah blah, some things about how everyone should keep doing the pretty good job they're doing. what else what else…." Sans said, much to Papyrus's apparent annoyance. "oh yeah. pap, you got any words of wisdom or whatever before we start for today?"

"NOT ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I NORMALLY SAY, AT LEAST." Papyrus said. Sans just nodded.

"alright everyone. you know the drill then." He said. "on the count of three, i guess. one. two…."

"THREE!" The other monsters finished. "One, don't shirk work! Two, run away and pay! And three, smiles go for miles!"

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! HERE'S TO ANOTHER GREAT DAY OF WORK!" Papyrus announced. The rest of the apprentices replied with a hearty "HOORAY!", before they began splitting up to complete whatever job they had for the day.

"yo. you two, team determination." Sans said, once both Monster Kid and Frisk were the only ones left, as they had no clue what to do. "follow me, i got your assignment for today." He began walking to the ladder leading to the second floor. Monster Kid and Frisk both exchanged a small glance, before they sprinted in order to catch up with him.

"so the assignment we want you to do today is real simple. this is the job notice board. other monsters who need help put their requests on this board and we go solve them. simple enough, right?" Sans explained. "so pap wanted you two to do a simple job just to get used to the whole idea of going into a mystery dungeon, since we literally have no clue if you've ever been in one. i guess you could say it's a real... **mystery** to us." Frisk tilted their head, even voicing the question as to what a mystery dungeon was.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know what that is!" Monster Kid said. "A Mystery Dungeon is this weird thing, it's like a maze that changes every time you go through it! And if any of the wild monsters in there manages to knock you out, we'll both be sent back and lose up to half of our G or items!" Frisk then asked why these Mystery Dungeons do this sort of thing. It doesn't seem natural at all. "Well...no one really knows why they do that. But a whole lot more of them have been appearing lately since time's been growing out of whack."

"yeah, something weird's been goin' on with time." Sans agreed. "no clue what that thing is, but boy is it happening. as of now, it's a pretty **minute** problem." Both children had to cover their mouths, trying not to laugh, something Sans certainly noticed. "i've got tons of these kind of jokes. a skele- **ton**." This time, Monster Kid couldn't help but burst out laughing, trying to cover his mouth with his tail but to no avail. "heh. anyways. you got that right, about the mystery dungeons and how they've been popping up all over the place. 'cause of that, we've had a big influx of jobs. so…..let me see here…" He grabbed one of the papers stuck to the board, possibly not even looking it over too much.

"Yo, is this gonna be a cool job? Let me read it!" Monster Kid said excitedly. Frisk took the job from Sans, and held it so their friend could read it. "' _Hey, my name is Ice Cap. And I seriously need some help from any exploration team. Y'see, I was robbed. I was robbed of my precious hat! An outlaw attacked me and stole my hat. I just can't settle down without that hat. I feel so jittery, so….so naked without it. You have to get it back before it melts! I've heard rumors about how my hat has been sighted in a Mystery Dungeon not far from here. I need an exploration team to go find it. Please, exploration team members, help me in my time of need! Please go into this Mystery Dungeon and find my hat, before it's too late! Signed - Ice Cap_ '. Hey….wait a minute….." Monster Kid gave a low growl, lashing his tail. "This is just a fetch quest! You want us to go get an item someone dropped! I'd rather go explore someplace new, or find hidden treasure, not be someone's errand boy!"

" **Kiddo, I'm not sure you realize how important this job is to someone like you.** " Sans said, his voice and expression suddenly dark. Heck, even his pupils had disappeared to reveal black eye sockets. " **It's important you rookies pay your dues. If you get knocked out in a dungeon, you'll be sent back here. You'll lose half of your items and half of your G too. If you don't get that through that thick head of your's, then you'll get arrogant and fail really quickly. Am I clear?** "

"Y-Yeah….." Monster Kid said, backing away and nearly ducking behind Frisk while trembling. "Y-Yeah….I-I get it….." The skeleton's normal, light-hearted air suddenly reappeared and he looked just as cheerful as before.

"nice to hear then, kid." He said, as if nothing had happened. "you two should better get going then. that ice cap guy needs his hat before it melts, after all." Monster Kid couldn't help but sigh slightly.

Either way, the two set out for the Mystery Dungeon.

* * *

After their entire exploration of the Dungeon, the two managed to find the hat, although it was nearly melted at that point. They returned to the guild, where Ice Cap was somehow already waiting for them there. They wasted no time in blowing a small gust of icy wind on the hat, rebuilding it, and then settling it back into its proper place on top of their head.

"I seriously can't thank you two enough for what you've done. I'll have you know you've done a great, magnificent deed here today!" They said, bowing slightly, but not so their hat slid off. "Without my hat on my head, I could barely sit still! But then I hit a whole big dilemma since I couldn't be seen outside without my precious hat either! Without my hat, I'm just...just...I'm just Ice! I'm sure you can see why I can't have that. Er...I was getting somewhere with that, I think. Oh! That's right!" Ice Cap hopped forwards, pulling out several things before pulling out-

"Woah! Is that 2000G?!" Monster Kid asked, as Ice Cap handed Frisk a whole handful of golden coins. "Yo! That's a buttload of money!"

"Oh please, that's hardly compared to the worth of my hat! I couldn't just let my heroes go unrewarded, now could I?" Ice Cap nearly snapped back. "Now, I think I gotta go. I really, REALLY can't thank you enough for all of this. Thanks again!" The small monster began making their way back to the ladder leading upwards.

"Yo, I can't believe this. 2000 whole G!" Monster Kid said, turning to Frisk as the monster began counting out the coins. "We're rich! Haha!"

"nice work there, you two." Sans was suddenly behind them, almost as if by magic. "could i see that for a minute? just wanna count something out." Despite their better judgement, Frisk handed the coins over. Sans took a moment to count the coins out, before handing them back. However, upon closer inspection, Frisk realized the 2000G had been cut down to a mere 200G.

"Yo, what's the deal?!" Monster Kid demanded, once Frisk pointed it out to him. "Why'd you take all that money from us, we earned it fair and square!"

"sorry kid, but that's the cost of the training." Sans said, shrugging as he pocketed the G. "but, hey. at least you still get some of it. honestly, i would've thought it'd be common **cent** s." Although neither of them had laughed at his pun, Sans still seemed to take it as a victory and began walking off, most likely to the bottom floor.

"Man...That sucks..." Monster Kid said, shaking his head. Frisk, noticing their friend's disheartened mood, tried to make him feel better by pointing out that while they might not've gotten all that money, they at least helped out Ice Cap, even if they seemed rather snooty about it. Monster Kid still looked upset while listening to them, before sighing and giving Frisk a grin. "Yeah...you got a point there, Frisk. At least we made someone happy! And that's what's important. I'm sure if we just keep working hard, we'll be the best exploration team and we'll be able to get even better jobs too!"

Yeah, all they had to do was just keep their spirits up. That had only just begun, after all.


	3. Chapter 3: The Scream

The very next day, after their morning cheers, Sans told the duo to follow him once more and brought them to the other half of the second room. Frisk, noticing this, pointed it out to both of the other monsters, tilting their head slightly as they spoke.

"heh, good observation kid." Sans commented. "guess you tend to notice a lot of things, huh? anyways, yeah. this is the outlaw notice board. since you two did such a great job with ice cap's job yesterday, paps and i thought you could handle capturin' an outlaw."

"We're gonna be capturing….an outlaw?" Monster Kid asked, beginning to tremble slightly. "Y-Yo….that sounds really d-dangerous…." Sans just shrugged.

"relax, kid. it's not like we're gonna send you up against some kind of horrifying demon of mass power or whatever." He said. "we're just gonna give you some low-life who stole something and needs to be reprimanded. but these are gonna be pretty strong monster, so you're gonna need some kind of preparation beforehand." He turned to the ladder suddenly. "yo, snowdrake! can you come up here, i need your help with something!"

A few moments later, the snowflake-headed duck Frisk had noticed yesterday climbed up the ladder. That's when they noticed a few other things about them. It looked like the snowflake part of the monster's head was actually made out of ice, and that they had tiny ice particles sticking to their feathers.

"I came soon as I could, so what's up?" Snowdrake asked. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's snow problem!" Dead silence. This made the room just a little bit colder as Snowdrake puffed his feathers up a bit.

"gettin' back on track. snowdrake, i need you to show these two around town." Sans said. "then help them choose an outlaw to fight."

"Woah, woah. You're actually asking me to help train the newbies?!" Snowdrake asked, the cold air immediately disappearing. "I….I never thought…..I would've thought you'd choose someone more experienced, like Tsunderplane or Whimsun!"

"are you gonna be okay, or…." Sans asked, giving Snowdrake a questioning look. "i mean, you seem happy about it, so i'll just assume that you're gonna do it. have fun, i guess." He climbed back down the ladder, leaving Frisk and Monster Kid with Snowdrake.

"So...what're you gonna show us then?" Monster Kid eventually asked. "And what's so exciting about helping us?"

"Y'see, I was once the newest recruit, before you two." Snowdrake explained. "And I felt like a total screw-up half the time too, 'cause I was trying to be a comedian at the same time, like Sans does." He let out a small huff, before shaking his head. "But whatever. C'mon, we'd better get going, that way I can show you everything you need to know before we choose an outlaw for you to fight!"

Snowdrake first took them downstairs, even pointing out some of the other guild members who were down there while listing off the others. The two monsters Snowdrake had mentioned before, Whimsun and Tsunderplane, turned out to be one of the three main explorers. Two other monsters, one named Vegetoid and the other named Madjick, kept watch and acted as the gatekeepers for the guild. This left the final two apprentices, Shyren and Froggit. Shyren normally made the dinner for the rest of the guild, although nobody else knew what she did. Froggit, on the other hand, spent most of his time in front of the cauldron doing who knows what. After Snowdrake explained what each member did, he then took them all the way to the surface and eventually to the nearby town.

The town, named New Home apparently, was filled with a lot of monsters, some gathering into groups and talking together or talking to others that stood behind counters. Snowdrake brought them to the center of town, before stopping and turning to them.

"So, this is New Home! Pretty, nice, huh?" He said, to yet another bout of silence. "Huh…..man, that's real cold." That one actually got a small giggle out of Monster Kid, which seemed to lift Snowdrake's spirits slightly. "Anyways, we got-"

"Oh! Wait, hang on, I know a lot about New Home, I've lived here for a while!" Monster Kid chirped up. He then pointed out the several stores, explaining what each of them did. There was a bank, a tent where attacks could be linked together and relearned, a shop, and a storage unit.

"So, you know your way 'round town now." Snowdrake said once Monster Kid finished his explanation. "Come back to the guild when you're ready, so I can help you pick out an outlaw to chase!" He began fluttering back off to the guild, just as Monster Kid turned back to Frisk, their eyes lighting up.

"Frisk, let's go to the shop!" He said, excitedly. "Before we go back, we've gotta go see what the shop has. C'mon, let's go!" He ran off, meaning Frisk had to run off after him. Thankfully, he stopped right in front of a storefront, with two dogs at the counter. One of them looked female while the other looked male. In fact, it looked as if the two were some kind of couple.

"Oh! Hello there, Monster Kid." The female dog said. "It's been a while, how have you been?"

"Who's this friend you have with you?" The male dog asked. "They don't….smell like a monster we've smelt around here. Are they new?"

"This is my friend, Frisk. And we've formed an exploration team!" Monster Kid explained. "Frisk, this is Dogamy and Dogaressa! They run the shop around here!"

"Welcome, Frisk was it?" Dogaressa said. "Please, take a look at our wares!" Frisk let Monster Kid choose what they should buy, ranging from food items that would heal them in battle to orbs and seeds that would do quite a number of things in battle.

However, as soon as they were finished shopping, they heard a rather loud "Hey, hey HEY!". Two monsters came running (or rather hopping for one of them) over. The bigger of the two looked like a pile of rope with tiny little feet on one end of the rope and a fireball on the other end. The smaller one looked like a mini volcano with tiny legs and an absolutely adorable looking face.

"Oh, Pyrope! And little Vulkin too!" Dogamy said, as the two finally made it. "What is it today? Another Cinnamon Bunny?"

"Yeah, yeah! That would be real HOT!" The taller of the two, Pyrope, said. "Could we have an apple too? We need it for Sir Whimsalot. He's gotten sick now too!"

"Both him and Final Froggit now? Those poor dears." Dogaressa said, reaching underneath the counter and pulling a bag out. "Here you go, that'll be just 20G, you two." The smaller one, Vulkin, jumped up, a little gold piece stuck in its mouth. It set the piece down, as Dogaressa set the bag's loop around the small opening in the monster's head.

"Thank you!" It said, in a tiny, cute voice. "Go back? Go help friends?"

"Yeah, of course Vulkin!" Pyrope replied. "C'mon! We gotta get going!" Vulkin gave a small chirp before the two raced back the way they came. Frisk turned back, asking Dogaressa who those two were.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know them." Dogaressa said. "Those two are good friends. One of their friends had gotten sick, so they've been getting them the food they need. Before then, they tended to keep to themselves."

"At least they're doing a very wonderful thing, helping their friends in need." Dogamy pointed out. "A lot of monsters wouldn't even bother nowadays, after all." Dogaressa looked as if she was about to say something else, when the two monsters suddenly came running out once more.

"Hey, hey! Vulkin pointed out that there was an extra Cinnabun in the bag!" Pyrope said, as the two stopped at the counter once more. "We only paid for a Cinnabun and apple, not for two Cinnabuns! How much more do we gotta pay?"

"Oh! You don't have to pay anything else!" Dogaressa said, waving it aside. "Think of it as a gift from Dogamy and I. And share it between you two!"

"Really?" Pyrope asked, before he began bouncing excitedly. "Thanks so much! C'mon Vulkin, we'd better get going!" The two began running off, until Vulkin suddenly tripped on a stone in their path. The bag flew off of their small volcano, somehow flying backwards and back towards the shop. Frisk rushed forwards, grabbing the bag (and anything that might've fallen out as well) before they went to help Vulkin back to its feet.

"Thank you!" Vulkin said, as Frisk picked it back up and set it down, even securing the bag around its volcano once more. "Sorry for the problem! But thank you anyways!" Frisk was about to say "It was nothing", when something strange happened. The entire world seemed to suddenly spin for a moment right before Frisk's eyes.

Suddenly, they tensed up and their vision went pure black. They heard something shattering from a long ways off, just before they heard Vulkin shout out. It was much louder than anything Frisk had ever heard, and if they could move, they would've certainly have flinched back.

"H-H-HELP!" was all they heard before they saw a flash of light and the world returned back to them. Frisk backed away, extremely shocked and confused by what had just happened. Vulkin gave them a questioning look, before Pyrope just called them closer. The little monster jumped and ran to catch up with their friend.

Frisk backed away, trying to make sense of what they had just seen. Monster Kid began talking with Dogamy and Dogaressa once more, mostly commenting on how cute those two were and how nice it was for them to be looking out for their friends. Frisk turned to them, actually asking if they had heard anything out of the ordinary.

"Heard….anything?" Monster Kid asked, tilting his head slightly. "No. I don't think I heard anything weird. Yo, what about you two?"

"Sorry, but we haven't heard a thing." Dogamy said, while Dogaressa shook her head.

"Huh, that's really weird." Monster Kid said, most definitely crossing his arms….if he had any that is. "Maybe you were just imagining things, Frisk! We'd probably get back the guild, otherwise you'll keep hearing things, dude!" Frisk let out a very small sigh, trying to assure themselves that they hadn't just been hallucinating. However, they had no choice but to follow Monster Kid back through New Home.

Until something stopped them, that is.

Both Pyrope and Vulkin were standing with a strange monster in the main square. This monster looked like some kind of girl, except she had six purple arms. She wore a dark pink romper with little buttons and a little bow at her chest. Finally, she also had black hair tied off in two pigtails using little bows.

"So you really did see it? That's hot! Like, red-fire HOT!" Pyrope was saying, bouncing more than before out of pure excitement. "Thanks so much!"

"Ahuhuhuhu~ It's the least I could do, deary." The spider-like girl said, covering her mouth with one hand. "I couldn't dream of ignoring two helpless children."

"Yo, what's going on?" Monster Kid asked, as the duo walked over. "What's got you two so excited?"

"Oh! Hey there!" Pyrope said. "Well, Vulkin here lost a really important item a while ago and I've been helping them search for it in my free time. But Miss Muffet here says that she's seen it!"

"Woah, really? That's super nice, Miss!" Monster Kid said, laughing slightly. "It's great to see monsters helping each other out!" Muffet simply nodded, before she turned to Vulkin and Pyrope.

"Well then, shall we be off, dearies?" She suggested. "We don't have time to waste, we might as well get to that item of yours before nightfall!" Both Vulkin and Pyrope nodded, voicing their agreements. The three began walking off, although Muffet accidentally bumped into Frisk along the way.

"Oh, dreadfully sorry, deary." She apologized, although Frisk couldn't sense any actual sincerity in her words. "Please, pardon me." As she began walking off, Frisk immediately felt the whole world spin again. Before they could do a thing, the entire world flashed and their vision went black. Then came the far-off shattering and….another flash.

Instead of hearing something, they saw what looked like a clearing at the top of a mountain. They couldn't see themselves, Monster Kid, or anyone other than two people. And to their horror, it was Vulkin and Muffet, with Pyrope nowhere in sight.

"Deary, please. You mustn't scream too loudly." Muffet said, walking forwards rather threateningly. "If you keep resisting like this, deary, it will mean big trouble for you." Vulkin tried backing away, trembling slightly.

"H-H-HELP!" They screamed.

The world returned once more, making Frisk literally jump a few feet back. Monster Kid noticed this, and gave Frisk a questioning look.

"Yo, something up, Frisk?" He asked, tilting his head. "You look really freaked out, is anything wrong?" Frisk debated silently if they should tell him what they had seen. After a few moments, they told Monster Kid to follow them so they could talk without being overheard. Once they were a good distance from some of the other local monsters, they finally described everything they had heard, the vision they had, and the strange dizzy spells they had been having. Monster Kid was silent the entire time, letting Frisk explain everything.

"So….what you're basically saying is that Muffet is going to hurt Vulkin? And that we need to go find those three before something bad happens?" Monster Kid asked. Frisk only nodded in response. "Yo….that sounds like an emergency! And….well, that's just it. It only sounds like danger. We can't just suddenly run off without telling anyone, we're only apprentices after all." He laughed slightly, which made Frisk pout ever so slightly. "Maybe you just need more sleep, dude! C'mon, we'd better get back to the Guild!"

The duo finally began heading back to the Guild, finding Snowdrake back in front of the Outlaw Notice Board. He offered to choose the outlaw for them, assuring them that he wouldn't choose any outlaw that looked too tough. However, as he moved to take one of the papers, a loud voice suddenly shouted out from behind the board.

"UPDATING OUTLAW NOTISSSSSE BOARD! UPDATING OUTLAW NOTISSSSSE BOARD!" The voice yelled, just as the board flipped over to reveal an empty piece of wood.

"Y-Yo, what the heck just happened?!" Monster Kid asked, shaken up by the sudden yell and even by Snowdrake's complete lack of a reaction.

"That? Oh, it's just Parsnik." The ice monster explained. "Parsnik is kinda like Vegetoid in a way, I guess. Except Parsnik burrows underground behind the Job and Outlaw Notice board. Y'see, the boards on revolving panels, so Parsnik can just hit the boards, update the wanted posters, then hit them to return them to normal! It's not exactly a job that's noticed much, but it is pretty important. So he takes a lot of pride in it."

"Oh….Still, that's pretty startling, isn't it?" Monster Kid commented. Parsnik suddenly shouted from behind the board once more, announcing that the board was updated and to stand back. Once the board flipped back over, Monster Kid seemed to notice something. And he instantly began trembling when he noticed it. Frisk asked him what was wrong, and even Snowdrake looked concerned as well.

"It isn't cold in here, unless that's just me again." Snowdrake said, ruffling his wings slightly. "So what's wrong? What's got you all worked up?" Monster Kid just pointed at one of the posters with his tail, not saying a word. Frisk squinted before letting out a small gasp.

It was a wanted poster for Muffet.

Exchanging a nod, the duo ran off. Frisk did yell to Snowdrake that they needed to be somewhere over their shoulder before they climbed the ladder. They made it to the crossroads, where Pyrope was pacing as his fireball head was burning with an even stronger flame than before.

"Yo! P-Pyrope!" Monster Kid yelled as they made it down to him. "Where's Vulkin, and Muffet too?!"

"Well, we were going along just fine, until I noticed that Muffet and Vulkin were gone!" Pyrope explained. "I called, and called, but nobody came. I….I'm really scared. What if something happens to Vulkin?!"

"Yo, calm down! Just take us to where you last saw them!" Monster Kid instructed. Pyrope simply nodded and led the two all the way to the base of a rather rocky looking mountain.

Frisk recognized the area as the same one they had seen in their strange vision. While Monster Kid assured Pyrope they would find Vulkin and bring them back safely, Frisk actually ran ahead. Monster Kid nearly freaked out at this, but ran after them after also yelling for Pyrope to go find help and get the authorities. The mountain itself was actually a Mystery Dungeon, with ten entire floors to it filled with bug, rock, and even a few poison-type monsters.

But they powered through. And, soon enough, they reached a clearing on the very peak of the mountain. From a far ways off, they could see both Vulkin and Muffet, although they couldn't hear what they were saying. That is, until Vulkin suddenly shouted out.

"No! No no!" They yelled, trying to run out from behind the spider monster. Muffet, moving quickly, shot a web out at Vulkin's back legs. The poor volcano monster was tripped and fell literally on their face.

"I told you I would still take you back to your friend, so please quiet down." Muffet said, sounding rather disinterested in their cries. "Deary, please, you mustn't scream too loudly. If you keep resisting like this, deary, it will mean big trouble for you."

"H-H-HELP!" Vulkin screamed. The duo rushed forwards, even standing in front of them protectively.

"Stop right there, Muffet!" Monster Kid yelled, even making the air around him crackle with electricity. "You aren't getting away with this, we know exactly what you're up to!"

"P-Pardon?" Muffet said, backing away while covering her mouth. "H-How on earth did you find this place? How did y-you figure out-Huh?" Monster Kid had begun shaking once more. Frisk shook their head, before announcing they were Team Determination and that they were going to take her down. But Muffet seemed far too distracted with the fact that Monster Kid was showing a sign of weakness.

"Ahuhuhu~ So you say you're an exploration team, and that you're going to capture me then, hm?" She asked. "But just judging by your fear, you're obviously nothing more but apprentices. What do they call you? Ah, that's right….rookies." She laughed once more, before smiling widely and showing off her rather sharp teeth. "But, you are right. I am an outlaw, with a bounty placed upon my head. But can you do it? Can you take this criminal to justice, dearies?"

"'C….'C-Course we can!" Monster Kid snapped back. "We'll take you d-down no problem!" Muffet just smirked, before sending multiple purple darts flying from her mouth. The duo had to run in opposite directions to dodge it.

Monster Kid gave a huge electrical outburst, one that Muffet was seemingly unaffected by. She used Poison Sting once more, until Frisk hit her from behind using Scratch. They dodged her attack, which looked just like Pound or possibly also Scratch as well. They used Ember, which made Muffet flinch back quite a lot.

Monster Kid used Thundershock once more, noticing how much Muffet had recoiled from the Ember attack. This caused Muffet to recoil even more, until she shot a web down right at the ground, causing it to expand into a huge web that stuck both Frisk and Monster Kid to the ground. But that certainly didn't stop Frisk from firing another barrage of fire in her direction. She flinched back, even backing away a bit closer to Monster Kid. He ran as fast as he could while stuck in a web, creating some kind of white trail behind him.

His Quick Attack knocked Muffet literally off of her feet, sending her flying a few feet away. And she didn't get up once she landed either. Frisk and Monster Kid pulled their feet out of the web and walked right over to Vulkin.

"H-H-Help…..Help….." Vulkin was muttering, trembling violently as Frisk tore away at the web binding their back feet together. "S-Scary monster….scary spider…."

"Yo, calm down, it's okay." Monster Kid said, walking around and bending down to Vulkin's level. "Just come with us, we'll bring you back to your friend, okay?" Vulkin looked up, tears in their eyes (and then promptly also evaporating probably due to their intense body heat). They nodded shakily after a while, letting Frisk help them to their feet. The three, all together, finally began to head down the mountain.

* * *

It didn't take long to reach the bottom of the mountain, where Pyrope and the proper authorities. Muffet was properly arrested while the two friends were reunited. The reward for Muffet's bounty was sent to the guild as well, although a good portion of the G was already taken.

That night, just after dinner, a huge, rather loud storm blew in. Monster Kid watched it from the window, while Frisk prepared for bed. After all, they had yet another day of training ahead of them. Lightning cracked across the sky, making Monster Kid jump slightly.

"W-Woah! It's super intense out there, yo!" He said, before walking back to his bed. "Y'know, it was storming the night right before I met you, Frisk. Do you think that's connected or anything? Yo! Do you think you can remember anything now?" Frisk thought for a moment, before shaking their head "no". "Aw man….bummer. But no pressure, just try remembering a bit at a time!"

The two sat in silence for a while, before Frisk said they were going to try to get some sleep. Monster Kid agreed and the two both laid in their beds, dead silent. Until Monster Kid began speaking, that is.

"Yo….Frisk, you awake still?" He asked. "I've just been thinking about that whole vision or whatever it was you had. Maybe it had something to do with you when you were a human." He laughed rather quietly. "I dunno, that's just the feeling I get. There's not exactly too many Goat-like monsters who can dream of the future. Or any monsters that were once humans either."

There was a long pause, where the only sound Frisk could hear was the rain outside and the occasional thunder.

"I'm sure you were a real good person when you were human. After all, you helped save Vulkin and we both took down that bad monster." Monster Kid continued. "More bad monsters have been popping up lately. Most people think it's because time keeps getting messed up. And a lot of people think that the Time Gears are the reason time itself is getting messed up."

Frisk asked what the Time Gears were. Just hearing about them….it made their heart race. They needed to know what these things were. Just so they could figure out what it was that made their heart race.

"The Time Gears are these….weird things. They control time in a certain area. They're hidden in a lot of places too." Monster Kid said. "It keeps time running properly and smoothly."

 _The forest was being drenched in rain. However, along the main path, the ground seemed to rise, as if something was burrowing beneath the surface._

"But what happens if a region loses its Time Gear? I'm not entirely sure. It's not like it's ever happened or anything. Even the most hardened criminals know to avoid messing with the Time Gears."

 _The trail suddenly stopped in a small clearing, right in front of a strange collection of lights and a small, blue gear sitting in the center._

"Honestly, my guess would be that time would most likely stop in that area too. But nobody knows since a Time Gear has never been stolen. Yo, you don't think anyone would be crazy enough to take one, do you?"

Frisk didn't reply.

"Heh….good point. Maybe we should just get some rest. It's pretty late out...and stuff. G'night, Frisk!" Monster Kid finished. Frisk heard him roll over, but they couldn't sleep now. Not after everything he had told them.

 _Something burst out of the ground. It was short, and had a rather strange silhouette. It looked up to the gear, before laughing slightly._

 _"So, they were right! It's actually right here!" It said, just as a vine broke free from the ground. It wrapped itself around the gear, before yanking it out. "FINALLY! A real, genuine Time Gear!"_

Something didn't feel right, Frisk kept thinking. Something felt like it was just….wrong. They didn't know what it was, or why they felt like this. But they just knew something was wrong. They bit their lip, before nearly coughing due to the fur. They still hadn't gotten used to that it seems. Instead, they sighed and tried to push that feeling out of their mind. They needed to get to sleep, they had a long day ahead of them.

 _"But….I have four more to get! And nobody is gonna stop me! Nobody!" Lightning flashed across the clearing, illuminating the...thing's face for a moment._

 _It was smiling._


	4. Chapter 4: The First Exploration

"...hey, everyone. got something really important to say today." Sans said, one morning after Team Determination's capture of Muffet. However, this seemed serious. Papyrus seemed void of any of his normal cheer for once while Sans, stuck with a permanent smile, seemed to give off an uneasy air. "so….there's this place up north, called snowdin, or something like that. it's this little, snowy forest that's actually pretty important. but….we've received reports that all time has stopped there." There was a collective gasp throughout the group of apprentices.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Snowdrake exclaimed. "Time's stopped?! That's impossible!"

"How are we absolutely sure that time has stopped?" Vegetoid pointed out. "Maybe the person reporting it was new and rather green!" There was a small murmur of agreement, before Whimsun actually spoke up.

"I-I-It's unthinkable…..a-are you s-s-saying….?" They asked. "T-T-That….t-the t-t-t-t-"

"YES, I AM AFRAID THE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNTHINKABLE HAS HAPPENED." Papyrus said, cutting them off. "THERE WAS A TIME GEAR IN SNOWDIN FOREST. AND IT HAS INDEED BEEN STOLEN." A dead silence fell over the entire Guild. Nobody could believe it. Nobody wanted to believe it. To steal a Time Gear was something that had never happened before. Nobody had been foolish enough to even think of doing that. And now…. "BUT, NOT TO WORRY! WE HAVE BEEN ASKED TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR SUSPICOUS ACTIVITIES, IN ORDER TO CATCH THE FIEND WHO DID THIS!"

"so, be sure to report any weird monster. we kinda need every single lead possible." Sans agreed, nodding. "but other than that, that's end of morning announcements. get to work and try to good work as always, okay?" The other Apprentices dispersed, still talking among themselves about what they had just heard. Frisk and Monster Kid were about to follow after them, before Papyrus himself suddenly yelled for them.

"TEAM DETERMINATION! OVER HERE, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU TWO!" He yelled, waving wildly for them. Exchanging a small glance, the two quickly rushed over. "GREAT! I HAVE A SUPER SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU TWO TODAY!"

"A special assignment?" Monster Kid repeated, before he lit up with excitement. "Yo! What is it?! Is it something cool?!"

"YOU BET IT'S COOL!" Papyrus said, before pulling his own Wonder Map out. "ME AND MY BROTHER HAVE GOTTEN WORD OF A SECRET BEHIND A NEARBY WATERFALL. EVER SINCE YOUR INCREDIBLE CAPTURE OF MUFFET, WE'VE BEEN THINKING, AND WE THINK IT'S TIME FOR YOUR FIRST EXPLORATION! WE NEED YOU TWO TO GO INVESTIGATE THIS WATERFALL RIGHT…." He slammed one finger down on a huge waterfall not too far from New Home. "HERE! SO JUST HEAD OUT WHEN YOU'RE READY!" However, Monster Kid suddenly began shaking. Frisk, noticing this, asked him what was wrong. It wasn't exactly cold this time, especially since Snowdrake had gone upstairs.

"Y-Yo….I just can't believe it." He said, sounding as if he was choking back tears of joy. "Our first real exploration! It feels like we're even more of an exploration team now! Frisk!" He turned sharply, grinning widely. "Let's go! Let's go and do our best!" Frisk felt taken back at first, before nodding with a similar smile.

And with a bit of preparation, they were on their way.

The waterfall they had been ordered to investigate was situated right on the cliff face, only a couple minutes walk from New Home. Frisk had even heard from monsters around town that it was situated right above some kind of hot spring, making the area above rather warm. Strangely enough, there was some kind of walkway leading right to the water, although it looked natural as opposed to monster-made.

"Yo. So this is the waterfall? This looks like a completely normal waterfall to me." Monster Kid commented once they had gotten there. "Maybe…" He walked closer, as if he was going to walk right through the water before he was sent flying back with a loud smack.

Frisk rushed to his side, asking if he was alright. The monster just shook it off, managing to get back to his feet and it looked like he was just fine.

"Man, that water packs a punch!" He said, shaking himself dry. "You try it Frisk, it's super strong!" Frisk felt reasonably hesitant, but still began walking to the water's edge. Monster Kid was completely right, it was nearly impossible to even stand near the edge. They took one more hesitant step closer, before being blown back with another hard slap noise. They landed close to where Monster Kid had landed, able to quickly pick themselves up before shaking themselves dry, which was certainly more easier said than done.

"I bet that even a water-type monster couldn't get through that. That's how powerful it felt!" Monster Kid said. "So….I wonder where we start? There's obviously nothing past the water but a whole lot of rock and pain, so where else…" Frisk thought for a moment, before the world suddenly spun around them. This feeling again, was all they thought, before their vision cut to black suddenly and they could hear a far-off shatter.

They could see the waterfall, and a rather short figure, wearing something with what looked like a hood, approaching it. The figure looked from side to side, before backing away and taking a giant leap right at the wall of water. A flash showed the figure rolling through the wall, landing on the other side in a dark, crystal-filled cave. They got up, shook themselves, before heading further into the cave.

Frisk blinked once in surprise as they returned to reality. Who had they just seen? Was it someone who was eventually going to visit the cave? At least they had gleaned something useful.

There was a cave behind the water.

They turned to Monster Kid and told him their plan. A plan to jump headfirst into the water, while they also assured him that there was indeed a cave behind the water. Monster Kid simply looked at them like they were crazy (and to be honest, Frisk felt like they were), before they quickly added they had another dizzy spell beforehand.

"Yo, you had another one of those things?!" Monster Kid asked, cutting Frisk off. "And you must've seen someone jumping through, right? Well…." He shifted from one foot to the other. "Okay, I trust you, Frisk. I trust you wholeheartedly, let's do this!" The two of them then took several steps back, readying themselves for the jump. Frisk even heard Monster Kid tell himself to "be brave…..be the bravest ever!".

After a few minutes, they both ran at top speed right into the water. Everything felt like a mess for a few moments, before Frisk felt their back hit stone. They rolled for a few moments, before coming to a rest on their back. Monster Kid was grunting the entire time, before he too landed right on his face.

"O-Ow….Man, that really hurt…." He groaned, as the two of them both staggered back up. "But...Yo, Frisk, you were right! There's an entire cave here!" He ran closer to what looked like the only way forwards. He turned, jumping slightly while grinning widely. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! There might even be treasure at the end!"

* * *

The cave was surprisingly a Mystery Dungeon, with about 12 floors this time in total. The two still managed to get through the cave rather quickly and reached an entire clearing filled with multiple crystals of all sizes. All the way at the back of the room, there was a giant crystal, this one much bigger than the rest.

"Yo….This place is beautiful!" Monster Kid exclaimed, as the two walked further in. "This has to be the deepest part of the entire Dungeon! I wonder if there's any treasure!" He instantly caught sight of the giant gemstone, rushing forwards and grabbing onto it with his tail. Frisk asked what he was doing, raising an eyebrow. "I'm gonna….pull it out! Duh, what else do you….think I'm gonna do?!"

However, the armless little monster couldn't do a thing. Frisk offered to try, grabbing onto the sides to the tail as hard as they could. Just like Monster Kid, however, they could barely make it move. Huffing, Monster Kid said he would try again before he grabbed on and began once more.

The world suddenly began to spin yet again, right before everything went black. The vision this time showed what looked like the same figure from before. The figure didn't hesitate, they instead walked right up to the gem and pressed down on it. The entire floor shook terribly, just before a wall of water shot out from seemingly nowhere. The figure didn't move at all, and Frisk wasn't sure if they were even there when the water hit them.

As the vision faded, Frisk yelled out for Monster Kid, as he was still pulling on the gem. He jumped and his tail pushed against the gem, making a small click noise. Panicked, they turned and tried to run out of the way of the water. Monster Kid yelled after them, before they were hit.

The next few minutes were pure confusion for them, as all Frisk could see was the churning black water. They held their breath, unable to hear if Monster Kid was even anywhere nearby. Soon, they hit sunlight before falling into much clearer water. Frisk quickly found themselves looking up at the sky, completely soaked. Monster Kid splashed up a moment later, blinking once or twice in utter confusion.

"Woah there! Looks like we've got some visitors, huh?" An old turtle was watching the two, standing on a dry part of rock. He looked wizened, complete with a beard. "What brings you two falling into our Hot Spring?"

"H-H-Hot Spring?!" Monster Kid stammered, before turning sharply. "But that's so weird! We were just in that waterfall cave a few minutes ago! But then water suddenly blew us all the way here!"

"A waterfall cave? You mean that old Mystery Dungeon?" The turtle asked. "I thought most exploration teams knew about the gem trap in there! Ah well, what can you do with naive explorers? But that's really besides the point, I should be welcomin' you two to the Hot Spring!" He held a hand out for them, laughing slightly. "The name's Gerson! Most monsters 'round here call me something of an elder."

"I-I'm Monster Kid. And this is Frisk." Monster Kid said, motioning to both of them using his tail. ""And….yo….we're real sorry about dropping in suddenly. We didn't mean to." Gerson just waved it aside, laughing all the while.

"Wah ha ha! Don't worry about it, youngster!" He said. "Before you two start heading home, why not enjoy the Hot Spring for a bit? The hot water's always good for your bones!"

"Hm….Yeah, I don't see any problem with that!" Monster Kid said, a grin appearing on his face. "We'll just stay here for a few minutes before we head back!" Frisk nodded, rather grateful that 1, the two of them weren't currently dead, and 2, they had the chance to relax. Before they went back to the Guild, that is.

* * *

But something was still nagging at them, something lingering in the back of their mind. Who had been the monster they had seen in their weird dizzy spell? Gerson had said exploration teams had been there before, but he never specified what exploration team. It was strange, and Frisk couldn't help but wonder about it. They decided to ask Papyrus once they reported back to him, asking if he had sent any previous exploration teams there before them.

"A SECRET CAVE BEHIND THE WATERFALL?" An hour or two later, the two finally made their way back to the Guild, reporting straight to Papyrus as soon as they got back. He looked amazed to hear this news, before he gave them the biggest smile they had ever seen. "I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING STRANGE, I KNEW IT! YOU BOTH DID A GREAT JOB!"

"But we weren't able to bring that gem back….it activated a trap that pushed us all the way to the Hot Springs." Monster Kid pointed out. "So….isn't our whole exploration a failure…..?" Papyrus shook his head.

"NO NO NO! IT'S QUITE A BIG SUCCESS IF YOU ASK ME! EVEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS A CAVE BEHIND THE WATER!" He said. "IT WASN'T A FAILURE, SINCE YOU MADE A DISCOVERY, WHICH IS WHAT EXPLORATION TEAMS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!" Frisk crossed their arms, thinking. Papyrus clearly couldn't have sent a team to the waterfall before them if even he had no clue that there was a cave inside it. So who could that monster be?

They reviewed everything. The monster in their visions had been short, but they had looked like a silhouette, with no defining features. They strained their memory to remember something, anything about them. That's when it hit them, a hood, and thinking hard about it, Frisk could remember only one monster they knew who was short and wore a hood like that. But it should've been impossible. Still, it couldn't hurt to ask.

So they spoke up, asking Papyrus their question. The skeleton looked at them like they were crazy, while also looking rather confused.

"HAS MY BROTHER EVER BEEN TO THE WATERFALL CAVE?" He repeated. "DEAR APPRENTICE, MY BROTHER AND I HAVE ALWAYS TRAVELED TOGETHER, I WOULD KNOW-WAIT, ACTUALLY THAT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE." When given a questioning look by the two, he continued on by saying; "WELL, SANS AND I ONCE HAD A PERIOD WHERE WE BOTH EXPLORED SEPARATELY, SO HE MIGHT'VE BEEN TO THE CAVE BEFORE…..GIVE ME A MINUTE." Papyrus ran off, disappearing for a few moments before he returned.

"Yo….so what'd Sans say?" Monster Kid asked, tilting his head.

"WELL, WITH HIM, IT'S SOMETIMES HARD TO TELL WHETHER HE'S TELLING THE TRUTH OR NOT." Papyrus admitted. "AT FIRST, HE DENIED IT. BUT THEN WHEN I BROUGHT UP THE WHOLE BEING SEPARATED THING, HE SAID "OH, RIGHT THAT. THINKING ABOUT IT, MAYBE I DID GO TO THAT PLACE."" Monster Kid looked rather disappointed, and Frisk couldn't lie, they were slightly upset at this news too. Part of them had really been hoping that they were wrong and Sans hadn't been there.

"Aw man….bummer….." Monster Kid said. Papyrus frowned slightly, since it seemed clear he didn't exactly like seeing people feeling so down.

"I AM VERY SORRY ABOUT THIS TURN OF EVENTS, APPRENTICES." He said. "BUT NOT TO WORRY! I WILL COME UP WITH A WAY TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU! I JUST NEED TO THINK IT OVER AND DISCUSS IT WITH SANS, BUT I PROMISE IT WILL BE REALLY GOOD! I'LL ANNOUNCE IT TOMORROW!" He began walking off, giggling slightly to himself. Frisk and Monster Kid exchanged a small glance, a bit confused.

They were just going to have to wait until tomorrow to see what was up.


	5. Chapter 5: Team Skull

They found out rather quickly what Papyrus had planned the next day. During morning cheers, Papyrus called for the apprentices to stay for a few moments so he could announce something.

"WE'RE GOING ON AN EXPEDITION!" He announced happily, earning a rightful gasp from the rest of the guild (minus Sans who must've known). "I KNOW, I KNOW, IT'S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME SINCE WE LAST WENT OUT ON ONE, WHICH IS WHY WITH NEW MEMBERS, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN!"

"Wait, hang on a moment, Papyrusssss." Parsnik spoke up. "Are you ssssssaying that it's possssssible anyone can go on this one? Even the rookiessss?"

"OF COURSE IT DOES!" Papyrus replied. "AFTER ALL, OUR NEWEST MEMBERS HAVE ALL BEEN DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB, SO IT SEEMS FITTING!"

"but, uh, that's not something set in stone." Sans pointed out. "you gotta do good work in order to be chosen. so….do your work and do a good job at it too." He shrugged, before dismissing the apprentices.

"Yo….so that's what Papyrus was talking about!" Monster Kid said as he and Frisk both began heading off to the second floor. "Man, we've gotta do a really good job! I really, really wanna go on that Expedition!" Frisk nodded in agreement, having a different reason for wanting to go on this expedition. They would most likely be going to someplace very far away, and it was possible they could find out more about themselves on the journey. They started towards the Job Notice Board, except there were two monsters already standing right in front of it, blocking all view.

Both of them stopped dead cold when they saw who it was. It was the very same bullies who had stolen Monster Kid's relic fragment.

Migosp and Loox.

"Hey! It's you two!" Migosp yelled, once they noticed the two as well. "The heck are you two even doing in here?!"

"Yeah, this is a place for exploration teams, not the playground!" Loox sneered. Monster Kid stepped forwards, gritting his teeth angrily.

"Yo, we're an exploration team!" He yelled. "Shouldn't we be asking you that question? What are two thugs like you doing here?" Loox and Migosp exchanged a glance, before they bursted out laughing.

"In case you haven't noticed, we're an exploration team too!" Loox said, in a mock offended tone. "The name's Team Skull. Sure we might not operate….by the book, but we're still a team nonetheless!"

"Yeah, we're just checking the jobs, calm down!" Migosp said, waving one pincer slightly. "Bet you two are as good as us. You're total wimps!"

"We're the wimps now?!" Monster Kid said, getting progressively more angry. "What about when we beat you, were we wimps then? 'Cause if we were, then how come we beat you two so easily?!"

"You got lucky." Loox hissed. "We actually have the skills to back us up, unlike you two. Kid, you're a complete coward and your friend there barely talks!"

"M-Maybe I am a bit of a coward, and Frisk talks just enough!" Monster Kid retorted. "But we'll prove you wrong! We'll be picked for that expedition and prove you wrong right away!" Frisk's hand instantly met their forehead, especially when both Loox and Migosp gave him a questioning look.

"Expedition? You're seriously going to try and get into something like that?" Migosp asked, almost incredulously.

"You can't make it, not unless you have the skills anyways." Loox added. "You only beat us once, but that was just cause we didn't have the Chief with us!"

"Yeah, yeah! If we had the Chief with us, we would've beaten you two into the ground!" Migosp said. "You two wouldn't have stood a chance!"

"Uh….Chief? Who's the chief?" Monster Kid asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Yeah, Team Skull is made up of three monsters. Me, Migosp, and the Chief." Loox said. "And oh boy, is the chief tough. He doesn't fight much, but he's really strong! In fact, I think I can hear him soarin' in right now!"

As if on cue, a monster neither of them had ever seen before. He was big, with no legs or hands. Instead, all he had was a pair of wings and a tail with what looked like a eye on the flat side of it. He flew past Frisk, suddenly creating a huge gust of wind that pushed the poor goat monster off of their feet. Monster Kid let out a yelp, before he nearly ran out of the way of whoever this monster was.

"Hey! You two find any good jobs already?" He asked, in a rather short, rude tone. "I got bored waiting out there, so you two better have something good."

"The guild jobs pay terribly." Loox said. "But, we did hear something pretty juicy, chief!" The new monster lowered one of his wings, allowing Loox to climb on and whisper something to it.

"Heh, I see. That does sound pretty interesting." He replied. "C'mon, we got some planning to do, boys." Loox hopped down and the three all somehow made their way back up the ladder. Monster Kid had been standing to the side the entire time, watching with his tail slowly curling around him.

That is, before he remembered Frisk.

"Yo, Frisk, are you okay?!" Monster Kid asked, running to their friend. Frisk had recovered from the sudden gust of wind, nodding and giving a small thumbs-up. "...I'm real sorry about that, Frisk. I guess I am a coward….just like they said."

Frisk told him that they weren't a coward. There had been plenty of other times where he had been brave. Besides, both Loox and Migosp had made it very clear the two of them were complete and utter bullies as well. Monster Kid should barely even listen to them.

"Yeah….I….I guess you're right." He said, sniffling slightly. "But….I really am kind of a chicken….Guess it can't be helped." The two both turned back to the board. "Whatever, I won't let that get me down then! Let's do lots of jobs and show that we're ready for the expedition!" Frisk nodded and the two chose the jobs for the day.

The next few days passed by normally enough. That is, however, until Sans stopped everyone just after morning cheers, supposedly with another announcement about the expedition.

"so, i know everyone's super excited about the expedition coming up, right?" He said, stopping everyone from running off already. "it's not time to announce members yet, but we do have at least something to announce. for our expedition, we'll be having 3 new allies join us along the way."

"Allies?" Almost half of the guild repeated, a bit confused. Sans didn't even get to say another word before a huge gust of wind blew through the room. When it finally stopped, each and every one of them could see the new allies.

Team Skull.

"How's that for a classy entrance?" The leader of the team, the monster who had suddenly appeared last time, said. "The name's Glyde, and these two are Loox and Migosp!" He gave a huge grin. "Y'all better remember that name," He even glared over at Monster Kid and Frisk, "especially you two!"

"AH! IT SEEMS YOU'RE ALREADY ACQUAINTED WITH A FEW MEMBERS, EH?" Papyrus asked, looking extremely happy with this news. "GREAT! THAT MAKES THINGS SO MUCH MORE EASIER!"

"yeah….so these guys aren't gonna be staying full time." Sans continued, looking a bit distrusting of Team Skull. "they'll live with us here in the guild and whatever, but they aren't gonna be apprentices. so be sure to treat our new guests with respect. that's all, time to get to work."

The rest of the guild was dismissed, all of them whispering among themselves about this new development. Both members of Team Determination felt especially uneasy about this. Those three had to be up to something. And it was probably nothing good either.

But, yet, whatever the three had planned, they did nothing for about 4 or 5 days. They seemed to be on their best behaviour. The only odd thing that had happened during the course was one thing.

The food stock for the guild seemed to be running extremely low.

Sans eventually waved them over one morning, looking just a touch more worried than usual.

"listen you two. i've got a really important job for you today." He said. "as i'm sure you've probably heard from shyren or whimsun….we've been running low on food lately. i checked the bin this morning and, surprise surprise, we were nearly out. so i need you two to go to these woods right here," he motioned for them to take out their Wonder map before pointing to a patch of forest just north of the waterfall, "so you guys can find these things called 'perfect tomatoes' or something like that."

"Uh….Perfect Tomatoes?" Monster Kid repeated, tilting his head. "What're those?"

"well, my brother loves making spaghetti for his dinner. a friend of his taught him how to make it." Sans explained. "but she told him that the best ingredient for the sauce were perfect tomatoes. thing is, they can only be found in this specific part of the forest. i can handle the rest, but i need you two to go find some and bring it back. otherwise, pap won't be able to make his spaghetti and….." For the first time since they had gotten there, Sans visibly flinched.

"...Go on, what'll happen?" Monster Kid asked. "What'll happen if Papyrus can't make his spaghetti?" Sans hesitated for a long time, before giving a small nod.

"he would…" He trailed off, before letting out a short breath. "yeah, that would be what happens."

"Yo, c'mon! You gotta tell us now!" Monster Kid whined. But one look from Sans told him otherwise. "Ugh, fine...We'll go and get those tomatoes, don't worry!"

"thanks kid. good luck and whatever." Sans said as the two ran out. A slight breeze suddenly passed by, startling the skeleton slightly. But when looking for the source, he couldn't find a thing.

There was nothing but what he could've sworn was the echo of someone speaking. Someone saying; "Let's mess with them a small bit, then. Shall we?"

* * *

The forest didn't take long to get through. Soon enough, the two made it to a huge clearing completely filled with overgrown tomato vines. However, almost every tomato was missing. Those that were still there sometimes still had giant bite-marks on it or were nearly rotten.

"Yo, this sucks! There's barely any good Perfect Tomatoes here!" Monster Kid yelled as the two checked a lot of the vines. "At this rate, we won't even bring back 5 of them!"

"Man, doesn't that suck then?" A voice said from within a huge tangle of vines. "'Oh no! There's no more perfect tomatoes!'. Listening to you two whining like that is really great!"

"What the heck?! Who's there, show yourself!" Monster Kid yelled. The tangle of vines suddenly blew apart as Glyde broke free from the vines, with Loox and Migosp scrambling out from underneath as well. "Y-You three?! Yo, Frisk, I bet you anything that these three ate all of the good Perfect Tomatoes!"

"Man, don't you just love jumping to conclusions?" Migosp hissed, grinning slightly. "We came with a little gift for you, relax!" The little bug-type monster pulled a sudden sack filled with tomatoes, throwing it towards Team Determination.

"Yo, those are the Perfect Tomatoes!" Monster Kid exclaimed, almost about to rush over before Frisk suddenly grabbed onto the back of his Manly Bandana.

"What, you don't trust us? Why would we _ever_ betray you?" Glyde asked, a suspicious (or at least to Frisk) smirk. "Go on, scoop up those Perfect Tomatoes!"

Frisk spoke up, asking how they know that the three of them wouldn't just knock the two of them out as soon as they grabbed the sack. All three members of Team Skull suddenly stopped dead cold, before turned to each other and whispering not so quietly.

"Well, well, well. Color me impressed, those two actually didn't fall for it." Loox said. Glyde made a slight "tsk" noise, glaring over his shoulder.

"What now, boss?" Migosp asked. "Is it time for plan B?"

"Guess so. C'mon Loox." Glyde said, rather sharply. Loox nodded and the two both stepped forwards, while Migosp stepped back. "So, you two might not have fallen for our little act. But there's always the finale! So take this…."

"My Dark Pulse!" Loox finished.

"And my Ominous Wind! Double-Dark Combo!" Glyde yelled. Loox blinked, just before sending out a stream of dark circles. Glyde began flapping his wings rapidly, hitting the two with hard-hitting wind.

The next thing either of them knew, they were sent to the ground reeling. Frisk tried to get back up, as they heard the three thugs begin moving. But nothing happened and they fell back onto the ground.

This was most certainly not going to end well.

* * *

 _A/N: So whenever I get reviews, I'm gonna do that thing where people at least mention the reviews in the chapters. Idk, I wanna have some way of responding to them._

 _First off, thanks WolfGirl01! I'm glad you liked it! Also, Chara as Dusknoir? That's interesting. I didn't think of that. I have two different ideas for what Chara could do during this, but neither of them involve being Dusknoir. I have a different character in mind for Dusknoir, and it might seem a bit weird, but I like it either way._

 _Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!_


	6. Chapter 6: Punishment

"so let me get this right. you made it to the clearing where all those perfect tomatoes are, but you somehow failed to get even one?" An hour later, the two had managed to get back to the guild. Team Skull had taken every single Perfect Tomato that had been left, leaving absolutely nothing for the two. Breaking the news to Sans hadn't been easy, especially since the skeleton looked more alarmed than before.

"Yeah….We're really sorry about it, Sans…." Monster Kid said, kicking at the ground. "But we would've gotten them if it hadn't been for-"

" **I don't want to hear any excuses from either of you.** " Sans said, putting his serious face on and making Monster Kid flinch slightly. " **You have no clue what you've just sentenced me to. But you're going to find out. You two are coming with me after dinner tonight. And we're going to tell Papyrus about how you two failed and there's no more Perfect Tomatoes. And I think you two are going to go without dinner tonight too.** "

"Yo, what?! But that's totally unfair!" Monster Kid protested. Sans only glared at Monster Kid, clearly communicating what he thought of it. And, true enough to his word, Sans made sure that neither of them were given anything to eat during the day. It was made even worse due to the fact that Loox or Migosp would glance over at them with a rather cruel grin.

After dinner, Sans brought them to Papyrus's room. The taller skeleton was facing away from them, not even making any move or sound as they walked in.

"bro, i brought in team determination just as i said i would." Sans said. "and they have that report i was talkin' about earlier too." Papyrus turned suddenly, giving a loud "Nyeh!" as he did so.

"HELLO APPRENTICES! WONDERFUL TO SPEAK WITH YOU AGAIN!" Papyrus said happily. "I HEARD ABOUT YOUR RECENT ADVENTURE AND HOW IT SADLY ENDED IN FAILURE." Instead of looking remotely angry, the guildmaster gave a huge, reassuring smile. "DON'T WORRY! FAILURE HAPPENS TO EVEN THE BEST OF US! I CAN STILL REMEMBER MY FIRST EXPLORATIONS AND HOW SOME TOO ENDED IN FAILURE. DON'T FEEL BAD!" He turned to Sans, as if he was completely unaware of what their failure meant. "SO, BROTHER, HOW MANY PERFECT TOMATOES ARE LEFT THEN?"

"uh….well, there's this small problem, y'see." Sans said, rubbing the back of his neck. "since, y'know, team determination failed at their job in getting back the perfect tomatoes. so, technically….the amount of perfect tomatoes would be…..uh...zero." Papyrus's smile suddenly faltered and he just gave a small "OH," as response. "so….i guess you'll….um….just have to….go without spaghetti for a bit…."

At first, nothing happened. The entire room was dead silent. Until everything seemed to begin shaking all at once. A very soft, orange glow suddenly came from Papyrus, very slowly growing larger. Sans gave a massive flinch, flipping his hood up and backing away slightly.

"you two, cover your ears right now." He advised. "papyrus knows explosion. and it's pretty dang powerful too. so cover your ears and find some way of defending yourself!"

"W-What?! U-Uh, o-okay?!" Monster Kid stammered, completely unable to do so due to a certain lack of arms. Frisk was rather unsure how they were supposed to either, considering their ears were huge and floppy. The light began growing brighter and brighter, and they could swear they could hear tiny explosions around the room. That is, until something broke through the noise.

"So sorry to interrupt, but we've come to deliver a Perfect Tomato!"

"NYEH? W-WHO'S THERE?" Papyrus asked, sniffling slightly as the orange light faded all at once. Team Skull (of all people, of course it had to be them) burst through the doors with a large gust of wind. Glyde flew right up to Papyrus, holding a Perfect Tomato in his tail.

"Heard something going on, so I suggested we stop by to drop off a little present!" Glyde said happily, literally dropping the tomato into Papyrus's hands before flying back towards Loox and Migosp.

"REALLY? I CAN'T THANK YOU THREE ENOUGH FOR THIS!" Papyrus said, literally bouncing with joy. "YOU SHOULD STICK AROUND, FOR I SHALL MAKE THE BEST SPAGHETTI YOU HAVE EVER TASTED IN CELEBRATION OF OUR NEW FRIENDSHIP!"

"seriously though. we can't thank you guys enough for this." Sans said, pushing his hood back down. "you saved us a lot of trouble, that's for sure. hey, you two. tell these three thanks already, will ya?"

"Thanks…" Monster Kid mumbled under his breath. Frisk only gave them a glare, to which Glyde only responded by laughing.

"It wasn't any problem for a team like us! We just thought we'd show our appreciation after you so graciously let us join in on your little expedition!" He replied. "And while we would love to stay, Papyrus, I'm afraid we must be off. Another hard day of work tomorrow, after all! Ta-ta!"

While Frisk honestly knew they should've been a bit more angry that Team Skull had shown them up in possibly the most spectacular way possible, they were more relieved Papyrus hadn't gone through with using Explosion. Otherwise, they highly doubted any of them would be there right now.

Didn't stop the whole being shown up from stinging, though.

* * *

"Hey, boss. I've been wondering."

"Spit it out then already! I don't got all day."

"Why'd you come in and save the two pipsqueaks? I would've loved to see how that all would've ended."

"Yeah! Me too! I bet that would've been hilarious!"

"Well, it's simple. What the reason we're here? To get treasure. That's why we joined this stupid expedition anyways. The trick is to get on Papyrus's good side, that way he won't suspect a thing when we launch our attack!"

"Oh! I get it!"

"Yeah, awesome plan! Just to be expected from the boss himself!"

"Are you kidding, this is even easier than I thought it would be! Papyrus is like a baby, trusting anyone he sees. It's his brother I'm more worried about. But even he should be convinced after all that! It'll basically be just like taking candy from a baby!"

* * *

"yo, determination." Sans called. The morning after the whole incident, and both of them were really feeling the effects of skipping dinner. Both felt even more tired and rather sick as well. Frisk doubted they'd be able to even make it through the day at this rate.

"Yeah…? What's up? Another special job or something?" Monster Kid asked weakly, as the two turned to face the skeleton.

"nah, just wanted to tell you guys to keep taking jobs from the notice boards." Sans replied, almost as if nothing had happened the night before. "...actually, there is this other thing. personally, i think you two should give up on being chosen for the expedition."

"Yo, what?!" Monster Kid exclaimed, while Frisk simply flinched back a bit.

"it's just that after last night, i really don't think you kids have a chance." Sans explained. "now, i don't claim to know exactly what's going on in my bro's head, but i'm pretty sure he's super upset about what happened. something like that can't just be taken lightly, you know. he might not even consider you two anymore for it. but hey, that's just me." He gave the two a thumbs-up. "anyways, good luck you two. i'm gonna go, i gotta go discuss some things about the roster with pap anyways. see ya."

And just like that, he walked off.

"Yo….I don't think I can work anymore." Monster Kid sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I was already super weak from hunger, then to be told something like that?! How much worse do you think this day could get?" Frisk didn't answer, only because they were just as upset by this news as Monster Kid was. They had really been hoping to go, possibly to figure something out about themselves and who they had been before all of this had happened.

But apparently, the world simply didn't want that.

"Psst! Ribbit, ribbit." Frisk gave a small start, glancing around. A small group of the other apprentices, specifically Froggit, Whimsun, and Snowdrake. "Ribbit, ribbit ribbit ribbit!"

"H-H-He means….u-um…." Whimsun whispered, as the three hurried closer. "F-F-Follow us. W-We need to speak w-w-with you t-two!"

"C'mon, this way!" Snowdrake said, leading the way into the apprentice's quarters. Both Monster Kid and Frisk exchanged an equally confused glance, before they followed after the three. They ended up going to Team Determination's room, where Froggit somehow managed to set down two apples before he turned to the other two.

"Ribbit. Ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit." Froggit croaked, nodding to the apples.

"Yo, did you guys do this for us?" Monster Kid asked, his eyes suddenly lighting up in surprise. "Yo, thank you guys so much!" The two happily began eating, instantly feeling much, much better now that they had food in them.

"Glad you two like it! We noticed both Froggit and Shyren weren't eating much last night." Snowdrake explained. "We asked, then figured out they were saving some of their own food for you two! The rest of us all banded together and saved some of our own food aside as well. Then we all decided we would give it to you after roll call."

"O-O-Our plan a-almost failed b-b-because we weren't e-e-expecting Sans t-to talk t-t-t-to you two…." Whimsun added. "W-W-What w-was he saying t-t-to you anyway?"

"...It was about the expedition…." Monster Kid responded, his shoulders slumping once more. Frisk took over for him and told the three that Sans was just telling them to give up on being chosen for the expedition. They had failed an extremely important job and it was likely Papyrus wouldn't choose them now.

"Really? You mean that he just told you to lose hope?!" Snowdrake asked, almost incredulous. "That's really stupid! You shouldn't just give up like that! I'm sure whatever you two did wasn't that bad!"

"Yo...thanks….but…." Monster Kid took a deep breath. "Everyone wants to go, right? But….for every person that's chosen….there's someone else that doesn't get to go. Would you all be okay with that?"

"W-W-Well….not really….I-I would w-w-want to go with e-everyone…." Whimsun admitted, shrinking back ever so slightly.

"But that's just how things go. Isn't it?" Snowdrake asked, looking sympathetic. "If someone goes, there's gonna be someone who's left behind. Maybe it's not cool, but you still gotta cheer on the people who are chosen!" Monster Kid sniffled once, before nodding and giving his best grin.

"Yo...You're right." He said. "We gotta all work hard. And even if we don't get chosen, we gotta be happy for those who do!" Froggit jumped up, ribbiting in agreement while both Whimsun and Snowdrake both nodded.

Frisk felt determination welling up inside of them. Monster Kid was right. They had to work hard if they wanted even a chance. Just like how Frisk would have to work hard in order to just to remember their past. They nodded, deciding right then and there that they were going to work even harder. For the sake of their friend.

For Monster Kid, they were going to make sure that both of them were going to be chosen.

* * *

 _A/N: Alright, so I've been doing a lot of thinking about several things considering this story, I'm definitely going to be doing the post-game and the whole story concerning Palkia and a certain Lunar Duo. However, other parts of the post-game will be left out. I won't be mentioning what parts._

 _But now here comes another question. Should I do any of the Special Episodes? Honestly, I only really want to do the final Special Episode, Into The Future Of Darkness, only because it's my favorite one and it'll also be staring my favorite characters. For the others, such as Igglybluff the Prodigy and Here Comes Team Charm, I have less enthusiasm. I also have no idea what to do for many of characters._

 _Leave any suggestions if you have them. I'll have my final answer on what I am going to do for the Special Episodes hopefully next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed!_


	7. Chapter 7: The Guild's Big Expedition

Several days had passed, and the guild had been more busy than Frisk could've ever anticipated. More supplies came in and more of the shops in New Home became sold out of various things. Jobs slowed down as monsters realized that the guild would be leaving. And, one night just before dinner, Papyrus suddenly made the announcement that the next morning, the members for the expedition would be announced.

That night, just after the dinner had finished, Frisk actually stayed up a bit later than normal, just thinking about several things. They knew if they weren't chosen, Monster Kid would be completely crushed. And, being completely honest, they would be extremely upset as well. The two had been working extremely hard ever since the Perfect Tomato incident, although part of Frisk felt like it still wouldn't be enough. They sighed, turning over in their bed and preparing to fall asleep. That is, until the random observation that they hadn't had one of those dizzy spells recently.

It took a while for them to finally fall asleep, only because their mind decided to point out several other random things. That morning, they felt extremely sluggish, more so than usual.

"alright everyone. you guys all know what time it is." Sans said after the routine morning cheers. "pap? you got the list for me?" Papyrus nodded happily, pulling a piece of paper out from...somewhere before he handed it to his brother. "thanks. anyways, let's get on with the whole thing.

"if your name is called, then stepped forwards. our first member is…..madjick." Sans announced, reading off of the paper. The magician monster looked pleasantly surprised, before floating forwards.

"Just as I had foreseen in my orbs! Tinkle tinkle hoy!" It said, sounding confident. But Frisk swore they could hear one of the other apprentices go "Wasn't he worrying about whether or not he'd be chosen?" in a whisper.

"nice. next up is….tsunderplane." Sans continued. The plane monster just flipped her hair (That she had somehow?) as she flew forwards and next to Madjick. "after her is…..well, ain't this a surprise? our next member is snowdrake!"

"W-W-What?! M-Me?!" Snowdrake asked, his feathers puffing out considerably and even making the air in the room several degrees lower. "D-Dude, you can't be serious, m-me chosen?!"

"uh….you gonna be okay, kid?" Sans asked, possibly raising his eyebrow if he had any. "c'mon, just step up." However, the ice-type monster just stayed still, shaking slightly. He seemed completely paralyzed by shock. "uh….alright, anyways. next members are….whimsun and shyren." The two monsters exchanged a surprised glance, before floating forwards as well. "and, looks like that's it! those are all the members for the expedition."

Frisk felt their shoulders slump slightly, while they heard Monster Kid groan slightly behind them. Even after all of that, nothing. Papyrus must've been extremely angry with them even after-

"er...wait, what?" Sans suddenly said, squinting slightly. "shoot, looks like there's more members…." Secretly, the skeleton didn't want to admit he hadn't seen it before. Papyrus had….eccentric handwriting and sometimes, it was rather messy. He tried his best, however, to decipher what it said. "looks like froggit, parsnik, vegetoid…..oh, and team determination are all coming as well. and that should….wait a second!"

"SOMETHING WRONG SANS?" Papyrus asked, tilting his head slightly.

"yeah, major problem. pap, this seems to be literally everyone in the guild." Sans pointed out. "if we go like this, then we'd be leaving the place empty. are you sure about this?"

"ABSOLUTELY!" Papyrus replied, grinning and placing his hands on his hips. "THE THOUGHT OCCURRED TO ME LAST NIGHT, AND I COULDN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. WE'D BE LOUD, NOISY, AND HAVING A LOT OF FUN! I COULDN'T EVEN SLEEP!" He stepped forwards, causing Sans to step back slightly. "ALRIGHT EVERYONE, YOU HEAR THAT? WE'RE ALL GOING ON THE EXPEDITION TOGETHER! AND WE'LL BE DOING SO IN TEAMS!"

"uh….yeah." Sans said, rubbing the back of his head. "so let's see….we're going to be heading out to this place known as **hotlands**."

" **Hotlands**?" Monster Kid repeated. Sans nodded, instructing everyone to open their wonder maps.

" **hotlands** is this place to the east. people say that there's a magma lake in that area, but no one knows for sure since the area around it is completely covered in this overwhelming fog." Sans explained. "rumors also say that there's a really big treasure somewhere in the lake as well. which is exactly why we're going. but since it's real far away, we'll be splitting up into teams."

"I HAVE THE LIST HERE! LET'S SEE!" Papyrus pulled another piece of paper. "LET'S SEE….OUR FIRST TEAM IS VEGETOID, MADJICK, AND WHIMSUN! THEN, WE HAVE PARSNIK, SHYREN, AND FROGGIT IN THEIR OWN TEAM. FINALLY, SNOWDRAKE, TSUNDERPLANE, AND TEAM DETERMINATION WILL TRAVEL TOGETHER."

"guessing this means you and me are gonna be team if that's the case." Sans continued, glancing over to his brother. "i would say we'll have a cool time, but we are going to **hotlands** after all."

And cue the groan from Papyrus.

"anyways. team skull is also gonna go on their own. we'll all meet up in the desert just outside hotlands." Sans said. "so. you guys all get ready. then come to me, i'll tell you what route you're gonna be taking. let's all try to get to the base camp in like….couple days times. dismissed for now, i guess." With that, both him and Papyrus both went straight to the back room, while Team Skull turned and walked out immediately. The rest of the apprentices instead met up with their respective travel party members.

"Yo, I'm so excited! I didn't think we'd actually be chosen! Any of us!" Monster Kid said, practically bouncing with excitement. "I'm really happy to be working with you two!"

"Just as long as you don't get in my way!" Tsunderplane shot back, rather irritably. "Besides, it'll probably be way too hard for inexperienced explorers like you three. You might as well just keep away from me!"

"Sheesh. No need to be that cold with us." Snowdrake said, earning a rather well hid snort from Frisk. "Anyways. You guys meet us at the crossroads just outside of New Home! I can go get our route from Sans if you need me to!" Tsunderplane just gave a small huff as she somehow managed to flip her hair….which she also managed to have despite being an airplane.

"Hmph. I guess so. See you idiots all there." She said sharply, before she flew away.

"I guess we'll be going too then. See you then, Snowdrake!" Monster Kid said, trying to give him a reassuring smile. "C'mon Frisk, let's go! We'd better go get some supplies!" Frisk nodded, and the two both ran off, while Snowdrake waved after them.

Time for a new adventure.


	8. Chapter 8: Path to Base Camp

Once the four of them were all finally ready, they met up once more before heading out along the trail, following Snowdrake's directions. Eventually, they reached a mountain range, right on the coast. In fact, it was literally right up against the ocean, just high enough so that the waves couldn't reach the path.

"C'mon already! We've already wasted enough time, we can barely afford to waste any more!" Tsunderplane said, floating above them as they climbed up more of the rocks. "We're nearly there!"

"I think we need to take a break, Tsunderplane!" Monster Kid yelled. He had fallen behind, even more so than the other two, most likely due to his whole….well, lack of arms. "We've been traveling for a while now, can't we just stop for, like, a minute, yo?"

"Yeah, I think we need to rest for a bit, Tsunderplane!" Snowdrake agreed. "Besides, we wanna check where we are right now too!" Tsunderplane made a clicking noise, but floated down to where the other three were as Snowdrake pulled out his wonder map and even pointed to a cave, right on the coast about where they were.

"'K. So we should be right about there, right?" Monster Kid asked. "Where's the base camp supposed to be?"

"I'm pretty sure it's right about here." Snowdrake said, pointing quite to a place that was rather far from the cave. "It's this place right outside an abandoned laboratory is. I thought I heard people say that's where all of the fog comes from."

"Tch. Whatever. But since the base camp is, like, extremely far from here." Tsunderplane pointed out. "So, if possible, we might want to aim for here." She tilted one of her wings down to the map, pointing to a rather high mountain not too far from where Snowdrake had pointed. "We might as well try for there. With...With inexperienced rookies like you three, I bet we won't even make it to over here before nightfall."

"Geez, no need to be so rude about it." Snowdrake said, rolling the map up once more. "Extremely cold, to be honest. Anyways, we'll need to head through a mystery dungeon in order to get to the place you pointed out, Tsunderplane."

"Nice! Let's go then!" Monster Kid said excitedly. He was the first of them to rush off, stopping right by a nearby hole in the wall. Snowdrake and Tsunderplane weren't far behind. Frisk purposely fell behind a bit, noticing something about Monster Kid. The younger monster seemed to be a lot more confident than they had ever seen him. In fact, it seemed as if he was acting like a leader. The former human couldn't help but feel a bit of pride, watching their friend grow from a coward to...well this.

"Oof. Looks like a split path." Snowdrake suddenly said, snapping Frisk out of their thoughts. "Which way do you think we gotta go? Right or left?"

"Hmm….I dunno." Monster Kid shrugged, before he turned to Frisk and Tsunderplane. "What do you two think we should do? Left or right?" Tsunderplane huffed and turned up her nose.

"Obviously we need to go left, the mountain is further north after all." She said. "Therefore, to go north, we need to go left from here!" Snowdrake tilted his head, observing the left path.

"You sure about that? It looks like a super easy time, if you ask me." He pointed out. Tsunderplane didn't even say anything in response. Frisk tried to pipe up, saying that maybe it would be a better idea to try the right path, seeing as how it looked more rugged anyways.

"You've got a point there, Frisk!" Monster Kid agreed. "The cave might lead us right out to the mountain!" Snowdrake nodded his agreement. Tsunderplane looked rather annoyed that the others thought the other way, until Frisk noticed something flare up in her eyes. Something other than anger or annoyance.

Was it relief? They couldn't really tell.

* * *

The right path ended up being a mystery dungeon, filled to the brim with water and ice-type monsters. There was even a dragon-type monster, which was certainly said to be one of the most rare types of monsters. It took a while to get through, but that was only due to Tsunderplane (being a, well, plane) sometimes getting her wings stuck in the hallways or getting stuck on the ceiling.

But, with enough patience and determination, the four finally made it out right on the side of a tall mountain. It was nearly sunset by the time they emerged from the dungeon, casting harsh, rather dramatic shadows over the jagged rocks. A huge gaping hole in the middle of the mountain loomed ahead of them, pitch black and ominous.

"Well, looks like we made it!" Snowdrake said as they stopped right in front of the hole. "Or….I think we made it…..I can't be sure…." He dug around in his bag for a moment, pulling out his Wonder Map and setting it down. The four all gathered around, as Monster Kid suddenly pointed to a small cave off of the coast with his tail.

"Yo! This was where we were before, right?" He asked, getting a nod from Snowdrake. "Then….we had to have made it to the mountain, right? I can't imagine we made it anywhere else."

"Yep, looks like we made it." Snowdrake agreed, pointing to the mountain as well. "Nice! We did it all before dark!" Tsunderplane suddenly gave a "Hmph!" at that, prompting the ice and flying-type monster to give her a questioning look.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" She snapped in reply. "It's already dark out, it would be literal suicide to go into a mystery dungeon at night! We might as well just make camp here and rest until sunrise." The three all looked to her, a bit taken back. "W-What?! I-It's not like I care enough about any of you enough to tell you to rest! It's a better i-idea to just wait until morning!"

"Er….Ok? Guess we'll be camping out here for tonight then!" Monster Kid said, eyes lighting up. "Then we can make it to the base camp tomorrow! I seriously can't wait!"

A few moments later, they had a fire set up thanks to Frisk's Ember attack. They spent a few moments, talking and preparing their food together in high spirits. Soon enough, night completely fell and they all got to sleep. Well, except for Frisk.

They sat up, discovering they just couldn't sleep. Sighing, they just looked up to the sky, silently musing to themselves. Maybe they were just too excited. After all, this expedition could reveal many secrets about them, such as who they were or why did they transform into a monster. They just had that feeling that during this expedition, something about them was about to be revealed. It just would, although they don't exactly know how.

They sighed and rolled back over once more. They really needed energy for the next dungeon.


	9. Chapter 9: The Amalgamate's Heart

The next morning, they moved out once more, traveling across the mountain and reaching a vast, rather foggy desert. Thanks to both Snowdrake and Tsunderplane being able to fly, they were able to locate the base camp and make it there all before noon.

"THERE YOU FOUR ARE!" Papyrus yelled as the group finally arrived. "WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER! YOU'RE THE LAST TO ARRIVE!" Tsunderplane huffed.

"I would've gotten here in no time if you didn't put me on the same team as three rookies!" She snapped back. Before any of the three could object or even point out it was often her getting stuck in the hallways of Mystery Dungeons, she flew off towards the rest of camp.

"hey, don't let it get to you." Sans said, walking over. "she's super prickly towards anyone. but honestly, i think it just means she cares." He shrugged, before pointing to a few empty spots. "just plop your stuff down and get ready, then we're gonna have a quick debriefing before we set out and stuff. so make yourself at home for a couple of minutes."

"Of course, c'mon let's go already!" Monster Kid said, practically bouncing. Both him and Snowdrake began walking off, while Frisk stood there, frowning. Something about the desert, the heavy fog in the air, the intense heat. It felt...strange. What was this feeling? Why were they even feeling this way…?

Wait….no….That was it. **They knew this place**!

"Frisk! C'mon, you're the one with the Wonder Bag!" Monster Kid yelled, startling the former human out of their thoughts. They shook their head and ran over, figuring it better to think about things like that later.

They still had the entire expedition ahead of them, after all.

* * *

"ok, we got everyone here? cool." Sans said once the rest of the Guild had assembled. "so, welcome to **hotlands** , i guess. as you all can plainly see, there's a super heavy fog on the surrounding area. it's kinda hard to _mist_ , if you ask me."

"SANS!"

"what, i'm trying to lighten the mood a bit!"

"IF WE MAY CONTINUE WITHOUT ANY MORE INTERRUPTIONS…." Papyrus said, with a noticeable glare in Sans' direction. "WE'RE HERE TO SEARCH FOR THE **MAGMA LAKE**. THERE'S ALSO SAID TO BE A LABORATORY NEAR SAID LAKE, SO WE SHOULD LOOK FOR THAT AS WELL!"

"Ribbit, ribbit ribbit!" Froggit piped up, jumping in place.

"Froggit has a point, is there actually a lake here?" Vegetoid agreed, bouncing in his spot as well. "Or is this **Magma Lake** just some sort of myth?"

"Don't say that, you'll ruin the myth that way!" Parsnik scolded. The two vegetable monsters looked as if they were about to begin arguing, until Shyren suddenly gave a hoarse chirp, directing attention to her. However, she immediately seemed to regret and chirped for someone else to help her.

"Of course, that's right!" Madjick exclaimed. "Shyren and Froggit told us about a legend surrounding the lake, Guildmaster!" The magician certainly had everyone's attention now. "It's said that an incredibly powerful monster guards the lake. Some even say it was the giver of Knowledge to all monster-kind! But this powerful monster….they say that they're able to lock eyes with anyone and wipe their memories clean."

Frisk couldn't help but give a small start. Wipe their memories clean? Was it possible that they had come here as a human and met this monster, only to have amnesia as a result? It at least explained why the area seemed so familiar to them.

"well, legends like that are honestly supposed to be expected." Sans pointed out. "honestly, if there is a big, spooky powerful monster at magma lake, we'll be able to overcome it. the guild has overcome a lot of challenging obstacles."

"WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH IT!" Papyrus said, eye sockets somehow lighting up….despite the fact he didn't even have pupils. "WE JUST NEED TO BELIEVE IN OURSELVES!"

"anyways, back on track. here's the plan everyone." Sans said, snapping one finger and directing attention back to him. "pap and i are gonna stay here at camp so we can gather intelligence. meanwhile, you all are gonna have to go out and try to do one of two things. 1, go find **magma lake**. and 2, find some kind of way to lift this fog, otherwise nobody's gonna be able to see a thing. just come to me or papyrus if you find anything. that's literally it. good luck."

The apprentices all dispersed. Monster Kid began leading the way out into the desert, Frisk following behind with their mind more occupied than usual. If they could just meet whoever this powerful monster was, then they might just be able to unlock the secret of their past. They might even be able to find out why they were turned into a monster and-

"Yo! Frisk, check this out!" Monster Kid suddenly yelled, pushing aside a sand dune with their tail. Frisk rushed over, just as he uncovered what looked like a pale-ish blue stone with small streaks and frozen droplets still stuck to the stone.

"What d'ya think this is? Some kind of gemstone?" Monster Kid asked as he scooped it up using his tail. "It looks super pretty! And it kind of feels warm too, like something cute and furry's all curled up next to you! I dunno, but that's just the feeling I get holding it." Frisk quickly opened a pouch in the Treasure bag, so their friend could drop the stone in. "Let's keep it, it might even be treasure! But we should probably get moving too!"

However, the entire desert seemed to be completely covered in fog, not to mention it didn't help that they might've wandered into a canyon as well if the rocky walls slowly coming into view was any indication. Eventually, they made it to what looked like a clearing, surrounded by steam geysers and even a few lava pits here or there.

"T-T-Team Determination!" A timid voice called. Whimsun suddenly emerged from the fog, fiddling with their hands nervously. "T-Thank goodness I found y-y-you….o-or at least someone e-e-e-else for that matter…."

"What's up, something wrong, Whimsun?" Monster Kid asked. "Like, you just look more nervous than normal, what's wrong?" Whimsun hesitated, before waving for them to follow. It was only thanks to Monster Kid giving off a small electric jolt (so they could at least see a bit) that they were able to make it to what looked like a statue.

It was of some sort of...giant creature. It looked like some kind of dog-like creature, with literally six melted limbs and smaller silhouettes of dogs in between its legs. The silhouettes only seemed to have small dots peering through. The main creature itself seemed to lack a face, unlike the smaller dogs around its paws. Instead, it had a gaping hole where its entire face should be.

Needless to say, it was extremely eerie.

"I-I-I found this s-statue while looking a-around." Whimsun explained. "D-Do you think it's a monster? I-I-I've never seen a m-monster like t-t-t-this before…."

"Me neither. I wonder…" Monster Kid slowly moved around the base of the statue, taking care not to step any closer than needed. He gave a yell, waving for the other two to come over. Carved into the stone was a tablet, either written in a language Frisk (personally) couldn't understand or it was just whoever had written it had terrible handwriting.

"O-Old Monster…." Whimsun breathed out, covering their mouth. "I-I can barely m-m-make it out, though. C-Can you?" Frisk only shrugged, while Monster Kid squinted and moved a bit closer.

"'Dedicated to the Monsters who lost their lives, but were given a second chance. Reignite the life within the Amalgamate and the path to the future will be revealed.'" He read. There was a long silence, one where the words hung heavy in the air just like the fog.

"Reignite the life within the Amalgamate...The heck does that mean?" Monster Kid eventually asked, looking up to the statue. "How are we even supposed to do that?"

"There has to be s-s-someway…." Whimsun pointed out. "M-Maybe we're just n-n-not seeing the solution?" Frisk crossed their arms, looking the entire statue over while frowning. Until they got an idea. Excitedly, they turned to Monster Kid and quickly explained it. In an instant, Monster Kid looked almost just as excited as Frisk felt.

"Good idea, Frisk! You might see or hear something!" He exclaimed, causing Whimsun to give both of them a questioning look. He stepped back, just as Frisk stepped forwards and lightly touched one paw to the rock.

It took a few moments, until the entire world began to spin. They heard the telltale shatter as the world flashed to black. They didn't see anything this time, only hearing a soft voice to their left, strangely enough.

 _"Oh….I get it now. Put the Determination into the Amalgamate's heart, and that should lift the fog! Haha, I never would've guessed. Nice work, partner!"_

Frisk blinked as they returned to reality. Something about that voice felt slightly off, but they couldn't focus on that now. The voice had said something about Determination and how they needed to put it into the Amalgamate's heart.

Without warning, they rushed around the statue to its front, looking carefully. They quickly found a small indent, just over where the heart would be if the statue was alive. And to their surprise, it looked strikingly familiar.

"Yo, what's up, Frisk?" Monster Kid asked, as he and Whimsun came out from the side of the statue. "Yo! You must've seen something then, right? What was it, do you have the puzzle all figured out?" Frisk only nodded, before they opened up the treasure bag and searched through it. It took only a minute before they found what they were looking for.

The same stone Monster Kid had found earlier.

Frisk began climbing up the statue, despite both Monster Kid and Whimsun telling them to stop. They ignored the two and instead tried to slot the stone into place in the statue's chest. To their relief, it fit perfectly. The former human jumped back down, backing away as an eerie howl suddenly began floating up through the statue's hole. It slowly and steadily began to grow louder, causing the three to back away until it became so loud, you could barely hear your own thoughts.

The statue suddenly let off a bright, white light. When it finally faded, the entire clearing was completely free of all fog, the sun beating down upon them rather mercilessly.

"T-T-The fog….i-it's gone!" Whimsun exclaimed, almost out of breath. "B-But….H-How? W-What just-"

"Yo, so the stone was actually the key to finding **Magma Lake**! And to lifting the fog too!" Monster Kid cut across them. "I wonder where it really is then? Is it just ahead of us or…." He trailed off, looking up to the sky and giving a small gasp. "Yo, you two! Look up, right now!" Frisk gave him a questioning glance, but looked up anyways.

High above them sat a huge plateau, too square and smooth looking to be natural. Various pipes and bits of dark blue machinery jutted out at odd angles, most of the very inner workings of….whatever that place was hidden by red rock. An immense amount of steam radiated off of the top, which was likely where the lake actually lay.

" **M-M-Magma Lake** ….I-It was up there the w-w-whole time?" Whimsun asked, almost breathless. Monster Kid simply nodded, while Frisk even voiced that this was the reason it had never been found. While they were wandering about in circles, lost in the fog, **Magma Lake** had been above them the whole time.

"S-S-Someone needs to go tell the rest of the guild then!" Whimsun said, most likely bouncing if they weren't floating. "I-I-I can go, y-you two keep going! G-Go discover the s-s-secrets of **Magma Lake**!"

And with that, they were gone.

"C'mon, Frisk! We gotta get going, we're almost there!" Monster Kid exclaimed. Frisk nodded and the two were about to head out before a huge gust of wind nearly blew them off of their feet.

"Leaving so soon?" A familiar voice sneered. "But the party's only just begun!" Glyde flew out from hiding, while both Loox and Migosp ran out from behind two geysers. The three blocked Team Determination's path, looking rather pleased with themselves for doing so.

"What do you bullies want now? We need to go!" Monster Kid growled, lashing his tail. Glyde just laughed, flapping his wings only to cause another huge gust of wind.

"Ain't it obvious what we want?" Migosp hissed. "We want that treasure! And now, we're gonna get it too thanks to you two dopes solving the mystery for us!"

"I don't think we could've even gotten any luckier too!" Loox added. "So just skedaddle on out and nobody's gonna get hurt!"

"No way, you jerks!" Monster Kid yelled. "We aren't gonna let you get to **Magma Lake**. Or hurt anyone either! We'll just knock you three out before we go!" Glyde just gave another laugh, as Migosp backed away and Loox walked a bit closer.

"Really now? The wimps are gonna try to take me on?" He said. "Looks like you forgot our last fight, which ended with you two getting it handed to you hard! So let's see how you handle this again...A Double-Dark combo coming right-"

"WAIT! NO NO NO! COME BACK!" A small white dog suddenly streaked past, a tomato grasped firmly in jaw. It stopped right in front of Glyde and Loox, just as Papyrus suddenly ran into the clearing, readying a bone. "GIVE ME BACK MY PERFECT TOMATO ALREADY, YOU ANNOYING LITTLE DOG YOU!"

"P-Papyrus?" Monster Kid said, just as Papyrus threw the bone. It hit the dog square in the side, causing it to yelp and drop the tomato, scurrying off. The bone continued spinning, looping back around to Papyrus.

"AH, THANK GOODNESS!" He said, kneeling and carefully picking up the Perfect Tomato. "IF I HADN'T CAUGHT IT, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE MY SPAGHETTI! AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS…."

"Uh….Guildmaster?" Glyde said, eyebrow raised (if he had one, that is). "What on earth are you doing out here?"

"OH! IF IT ISN'T TEAM DETERMINATION AND MY GOOD FRIENDS!" Papyrus said, giving a big smile. "I WAS JUST OUT FOR A WALK WHEN THAT DOG STOLE MY TOMATO I WAS SAVING FOR LATER! BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" He turned back to Monster Kid and Frisk, making small "shoo!" motions. "YOU TWO BETTER GET BACK TO EXPLORING! THAT'S YOUR JOB, ISN'T IT?"

"Well, yeah, but those three-"

"BOO! NOT LISTENING TO YOUR GUILDMASTER? SHAME ON YOU! HURRY UP, GET GOING ALREADY!" Frisk and Monster Kid exchanged a glance, before they hesitantly began following a path that looked as if it would lead to the plateau. While Team Skull's Double-Dark combo was powerful, Papyrus could probably withstand it. After all, he didn't become known as one of the strongest and best explorers for nothing after all.

He would be perfectly fine, right?


	10. Chapter 10: The Mystery of Magma Lake

When they finally made it to the plateau, they found that there was a, conveniently enough, doorway leading into a Mystery Dungeon. The dungeon itself was filled with tough bug and electric-type monsters, all inside what looked like a brightly lit factory, with neon blue walls. It was even so tall that there was a midway point, safe from any other hostile monsters. However, as soon as the two set foot inside the midway point, they heard a distant howl. It almost even sounded like the same howl that came from Amalgamate statue. The two stopped to glance at each other, both with the same expression.

There was something up ahead. And it was big.

"Yo, looks like we've almost made it to the top." Monster Kid observed. "I wonder what's waiting for us up there. And if that….That super powerful monster is really up there too!" Frisk nodded, their mind wandering slightly.

If the monster truly was up there, this was possibly their one chance to find out who they really were. A chance to discover their past. They hadn't even told Monster Kid about their suspicions yet. The time to tell him never really did come up, after all.

They watched Monster Kid rather carefully afterwards as they began climbing through a different part of the dungeon. They kept looking for an opportunity to bring it up. And, thankfully, they saw their chance just as they had finished dealing with a pair of stubborn Bug-type monsters.

Frisk first reminded him about the legend, asking if he really did believe that a powerful guardian rested at the top. He, naturally, said yes and asked why that question suddenly. They took a deep breath before Frisk explained that they believed that they had come there, as a human, and met this monster, who had given them amnesia.

"Yo! So that's why you've been more quiet than usual!" Monster Kid exclaimed after Frisk had finished. "Dude, if that's true, then we could just ask this monster if they've seen you before! That's so cool!" He gave Frisk possibly the biggest smile they had ever seen. "Now we've definitely got to meet this monster! I wanna know all about you when you were a human!"

Frisk couldn't help but sigh out of relief, before nodding and firmly agreeing. They had to get to Magma Lake, no matter what.

Meanwhile, far back down at the base of the dungeon, the rest of the guild had made it to the Amalgamate statue, with neither Papyrus nor Team Skull in sight.

"so, this is the thing, huh?" Sans asked Whimsun, who had been rather nervously leading the group. "never thought i'd see one this close before."

"S-S-So you know what it is?" Whimsun asked, a bit impressed. Sans only gave a grin.

"well, i'm not head of guild intelligence for nothing." He replied. "amalgamates are basically monsters who melted then fused together. dunno what causes them to melt, i just know it happens."

"W-W-What would happen if…..if you fought it in a b-battle?" Whimsun timidly asked. Before Sans could reply, an unearthly howl filled the area, even making the ground shake a tiny bit.

"well, i think we should first try to figure out what in the world that was." The skeleton said. "c'mon, let's try this way." He ended up leading the rest of the apprentices down the same path Team Determination had taken. But, Vegetoid suddenly fell behind, hearing something behind the group.

"Vegetoid, sssssssomething wrong?" Parsnik yelled, startling Vegetoid. The carrot monster simply frowned, looking as if he was trying to locate something far behind them.

"I thought I heard something. Like moaning and groaning." He replied. "You think someone's hurt or something? It sure sounds a lot like it."

"It'ssssss probably jusssssst your imagination." Parsnik said. "Come on, let'ssssss not fall too far behind!" Vegetoid continued staring off in that location for a couple of minutes before rushing after the rest of the group.

* * *

The second part of the dungeon was much easier to complete when compared to the first, only taking 7 floors this time. Upon exiting the dungeon, Monster Kid and Frisk found themselves in a rocky clearing, wide enough to hold what looked like hundreds of small enough monsters.

However, the strangest part about it was the small piles of what looked like fur scattered everywhere. This fur had dirt, pieces of browned tennis balls, and even bones sticking out at odd angles. Neither of them dared to go near it, out of fear that they'd get sucked in never to be seen again.

"This has got to be the highest point." Monster Kid said confidently, as the two stopped in the middle of the clearing. "It's gotten super hot too, so I bet we're close to Magma Lake too!" Frisk nodded and suggested they keep going. As soon as the words left their mouth, the entire ground shook and the same haunting howl met their ears, even louder than before.

 _"S-S-S-So….you never d-did answer my question, S-S-Sans…."_

 _"huh, i didn't? well, what was it again? refresh my memory."_

"Y-Yo, what's that? T-The ground's shaking…." Monster Kid stammered, backing away slightly. "Something b-big is coming…."

 _"I-I-I asked what would happen if you f-f-f-fought an Amalgamate?"_

A single white paw suddenly slammed down from out of the shadows, followed by six more and an entire, melting body. Muscles shifted unnaturally underneath the skin as a strange foamy, blue liquid fell from the thing's mouth.

 _"fight an amalgamate? that'd be like throwing your life away. amalgamates are fusions between monsters, meaning that it has a lot more power than your average monster. a friend of mine that i met on one adventure was experimenting with them and discovered that they're possibly even more powerful than any current monster we know about."_

 _"T-T-T-That powerful…..w-w-woah…"_

The very same creature they had seen in the statue, the Amalgamate, stood before them, ears folded back and a distorted growl rumbling in its throat.

"T-T-That's the s-s-same monster from before!" Monster Kid yelped, now fully hiding behind Frisk. "I-It's real?!" The Amalgamate looked before the two, before it gave another howl.

It was angry.

"whO dARes cOmE hERe? whO daREs tO deSecrATe sAcRED gROund!?" It howled, sounding as if its voice was made of millions of different voices.

"W-We just came to find Magma Lake, w-we don't mean to hurt anyone!" Monster Kid replied. The Amalgamate stared at them, before letting loose another growl.

"fOOlS! i aM tHE gUArdiAN of **MagMA lAKe!** " It hissed. "i Am endOGEnY!" It slammed two of its paws down. "yoU wiLL neVEr lEaVE thiS plACe aLIVe!" Pointed rocks suddenly shot out of the ground. Howling once more, Endogeny sent them flying towards the two.

It looked as if there was no getting around it. They needed to fight him.

They split up, just barely managing to dodge Endogeny's Ancient Power. And it seemed that no matter what they did, their attacks would just pass through the Amalgamate's melted body. Frisk even lamented that their fire attacks would only make things worse and that maybe even ice-type attacks could work better. That is, until Monster Kid accidentally kicked up sand using his Quick Attack. The particles of dust clung to Endogeny's body.

That's when Frisk got an idea.

They ran to one of the rocks and tried to pick it up. Surprisingly, they were able to actually pick it up. As Endogeny readied another Ancient Power, Frisk threw the rock as hard as they could muster. The rock hit Endogeny hard, sending it stumbling back slightly. It clearly didn't like it, but its movements seemed more sluggish than before.

Monster Kid quickly hit it with one of his most powerful Thundershocks yet, causing the Amalgamate to howl in pain as it stumbled back. Exchanging a nod, the two then unleashed attacks both at the same time, Frisk using Ember with as much power behind it and Monster Kid using his Thundershock once more.

Endogeny let out a screech this time, stumbling back before it hit the ground with a massive thump. The two stood there, breathing heavily as they watched it carefully. It laid completely still, not even breathing if you looked closely enough. Suddenly, its outline became fuzzy and moved in and out of focus.

That's when it hit Frisk. The Endogeny they had fought was nothing more than an illusion. A hologram. A fake. While Monster Kid just stared dumbfounded at the flickering Endogeny, Frisk called for whoever was out there to show themselves. That their illusion had failed and they had beaten it fair and square.

" _W-Wow….I wasn't e-expecting anyone t-to beat it….if I'll be honest….._ " A voice suddenly said, coming from absolutely no where. " _Y-You two really are s-strong! A-And that Rock Throw too! I-I had no idea G-Goat-like monsters could learn a m-move like that!_ "

"W-Woah?! Who's saying that?! Show yourself already!" Monster Kid yelped, jumping slightly. "W-We….uh….also don't want to hurt anyone or anything! W-We only came here f-for information!"

" _I-Information? Really?_ " The voice repeated, sounding both skeptical and slightly surprised.

"Well….if there is a possibility that we could leave with treasure, we'll take it…." Monster Kid confessed, before he quickly added; "B-But if that's a problem, we'll be happy with just some information!" The voice was silent for a few moments, as if considering what he had said.

" _...O-Ok. I'll t-trust you._ " They said. The Endogeny illusion faded away, as a small ball of yellow light took its place. Once that faded away, it revealed a monster only a few inches taller than Frisk or Monster Kid. She looked distinctly dinosaur-like, with bright yellow quills pushed away from her face, as if to look like hair. She wore a white lab coat, with glasses perched on the very edge of her nose despite the fact she had no visible ears. Finally, a long scaly tail wove its way out from underneath her lab coat, trailing on the ground behind her.

"U-um…..H-Hello there. I-It's not often I get visitors a-all the way u-up here…." She said, waving rather nervously. "E-Even then….m-my Endogeny projection t-tends to scare them away."

"Yo….who...who are you?" Monster Kid asked, blinking in surprise. "Wait! Are you that super powerful monster people talk about?"

"M-Me? Powerful? T-That's a good one!" The monster laughed, shaking her head. "E-Er….well, I g-guess in a way I'm kind o-of strong. B-But I guess that w-would be me…." She gave a small cough, before holding out one hand. "M-My name is Alphys. And l-like I said before, I-I'm the Guardian of **Magma Lake**."

"Woah….this is so crazy….." Monster Kid breathed. Alphys just gave another small laugh, before waving for them to follow.

"S-So, you said you just w-wanted information right?" She asked, getting two nods in return. "W-Well, just follow me. **Magma Lake** is j-just up ahead." It made sense, considering the only way back was down through the dungeon. The two followed Alphys through another tunnel, covered in various cartoon posters with strange writing printed on it. It wasn't long before they emerged once more in a boiling hot area, the small outcrop of land surrounded on all sides by molten lava.

There was a small island in the center of the lava lake, lit by a faint green light. Frisk couldn't tell what it was about the light, but it made their heart race about 10 times faster just seeing it. What was it? They absolutely had to know what it was now. So, once Alphys stopped just at the edge of the lake, they asked it right away. She couldn't help but look slightly amused, as if she was expecting the question.

"T-The green light in the c-center? W-Well, just look really c-close." She suggested. Frisk squinted, until they could see what looked like a small blue gear sitting in the middle of a complex pattern. "I-I don't know if y-you've ever seen one of those before, b-but it's called a Time Gear. A-And that's why I was put here, t-to protect it and **Magma L-Lake**."

"But how?" Monster Kid asked, tilting his head. "Well, I mean, it's just you said that you weren't exactly powerful, like a lot of people say." Alphys looked slightly embarassed for a moment, before turning and waving one claw. Endogeny reappeared, flickering in and out of existence like static on a TV screen.

"W-Well, I might not be strong p-physically, but I have really strong P-Psychic abilities." She explained. "N-Normally the fog and Endogeny h-here are able to fend off intruders, b-but there are monsters who make it t-through. W-When that does happen, I-I just wipe their memories."

"Wipe their memories…" Monster Kid repeated, before yelping. "Oh! That's right! Alphys, we have something super important to ask of you!" She blinked and gave a questioning look, as if to say "Go on?". "Okay, so you see my friend here? They look like a completely normal monster, right?"

"O-Other than the fact they somehow m-managed to learn Rock Throw, y-yeah?" Alphys said.

"Well, prepare to have your mind blown! My friend Frisk was once a human, but was turned into a monster and lost all of their memory!" He continued, getting a shocked gasp from Alphys. "So, since we heard the rumors, we kind of wanted to know. Has Frisk-"

"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!" Alphys squealed, rushing closer to Frisk and immediately checking them all over. "Y-You were a human once?! B-But how could you have t-turned into a monster? M-Maybe it was some kind of s-spell, o-or a weird power a monster nobody has ever seen before did this! O-Or it could be just like in this one anime I watched, where the human turned into a creature because they were-"

"Uh….Alphys?" Monster Kid said, cutting her off before she could spoil anything. "We just needed to know if Frisk has been here before." Alphys backed away, sparks of embarrassment flying between her quills.

"H-Heh...sorry, I got a bit t-too excited there…." She apologized. "B-But to answer your question, n-no. I've never s-seen…Frisk was it? I-I've never seen them here. T-To be completely honest, I c-can only take away memories of **Magma Lake**. I-I could never take away all of the memories of s-someone. That w-would be cruel!" She gave an apologetic shrug upon seeing the disappointment on both of their faces. "S-Sorry, but I'm not the r-reason for your amnesia, I-I guess. And I-I certainly don't h-have enough power to turn a h-human into a monster."

"Oh….dang, I thought we really had something there." Monster Kid sighed, before giving a small grin. "At least we got to meet you, Alphys! And see this really pretty view!" Alphys gave a smile in return, looking as if she was about to say something when a loud yell interrupted her.

"A TIME GEAR, EH? A SHAME, BUT WE CAN'T POSSIBLY TAKE THAT!"

The three spun around, only to see Papyrus emerge from the cave, completely unharmed. He rushed over, instantly taking Alphys' claw and shaking it enthusiastically.

"HELLO THERE! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU!" He said happily, catching Alphys off guard. "I WOULD SAY HELLO TO YOUR OTHER FRIEND BUT HE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ALL TOGETHER AT THE MOMENT!"

"pap! there you are!" Frisk turned, as the rest of the Guild followed in behind him. "i got pretty- what in the world-?!" All of them jumped back upon seeing the Endogeny illusion, crying out in alarm and panic.

"OH DON'T MIND HIM, HE DOESN'T REALLY NOTICE MUCH DOES HE?" Papyrus said, waving it aside. That is, before he gave a big gasp. "OH OH! LOOK, LOOK AT THE STEAM RISING OFF OF THE LAKE!"

All of them turned, only to see various bug-type monsters, all glowing, start flying across the vast lake, coloring the steam every so often with bright white or yellow lights. The glow coming from the Time Gear suddenly increased, until it shot upwards in a straight line, parting aside the clouds.

"I-It does that every so often. I-I've been trying to figure out why." Alphys said as the rest of the guild all gathered around. "F-From what I can t-tell, it happens whenever the Time Gear n-needs to let out e-excess energy. All of t-the surrounding monsters know when i-it's about to happen too, so they make sure t-to light up the steam when i-its time. I-It's always so pretty, n-no matter how many times I see it."

"Yo….the treasure of Magma Lake….it's gotta be the view!" Monster Kid said, eyes wide with wonder. "I'd say this view was definitely worth the effort!" Frisk silently nodded, more preoccupied with what Alphys had told them.

They hadn't been here, then why did it feel as if they knew this place? And the Time Gear, the overwhelming sense of wonder they felt just from seeing it. Was it somehow connected with their past? It felt as if they had honestly gotten more questions than answers by coming here. At least Monster Kid was right.

The view really was incredible.


	11. Chapter 11: Mettaton

"AND THREE! DON'T SHIRK WORK!"

After the show at Magma Lake, Alphys made them all promise that they wouldn't tell a single soul about the Time Gear hidden there. She made the decision to allow them to keep their memories only if they kept it a secret. As a result, it looked as if they had simply returned completely empty-handed. Most Monsters in New Home were disappointed, but still tried to be encouraging.

The very next day, just after the guild returned home, business resumed once more.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! HERE'S TO ANOTHER GREAT DAY OF WORK!" Papyrus called, earning a "HOORAY" from the apprentices as they all dispersed. Monster Kid instantly turned to Frisk, looking extremely energetic, more so than usual.

"Alright Frisk, we're gonna do great today!" He said, grinning widely. "We've gotta work extra hard now, especially after the expedition too!" Frisk nodded, smiling as well. His cheer was incredibly infectious.

"nice enthusiasm today, kid." Sans praised, leisurely walking over with his normal grin in place. "that's what i like to see. so let's go put that energy to good use today, eh?" Frisk asked if it was just taking jobs from the notice boards today. Sans almost answered it, before there was a yell from Madjick over by the sentry hole.

"You mean you can't identify the footprint?!" He yelled, nodding to one of his orbs to go down there itself. "That's never happened before! Abracadabra, you must be joking with me!"

"I'm telling you, I'm not!" Vegetoid shouted back. "I'm not some green newbie, I've been doing this for years! And I'm telling you I literally cannot identify the footprint! And stop sending your chaser orbs down here!" Sans rushed over, and the other two couldn't help but follow.

"hey, hey, ladies let's not fight. what's going on here?" He said, holding two hands out. "is there any problem or…?" Madjick huffed as his Chaser Orb flew back out of the hole.

"Alakazam, we've got a visitor up top but Vegetoid can't identify their footprint." He explained. "This has never happened before, I'm frankly stumped, tinkle tinkle hoy."

"Hey, you weren't able to identify Frisk's footprint when we first came in!" Monster Kid pointed out. "Why should this time be any different?" Madjick looked as if he was about to start explaining why, when Vegetoid began shouting once more.

"Oh, you want to talk with the Guildmaster and his brother? Well, can I get your name then?" He yelled, obviously speaking to whoever was on top of the grate. "Your name is…..M-Mettaton?!"

"Mettaton?!" Both Sans and Madjick said, both equally as surprised.

Moments later, a strange new monster had climbed down the ladder and was speaking with Papyrus and Sans. This monster was just barely taller than Sans, reaching somewhere underneath Papyrus' chestplate. He looked more like a metallic box or two rectangles sitting on top of each other, with a screen flashing various colors as he spoke. There were various dials underneath the screen, a few of them even turning by themselves. Finally, two cartoonishly big hands were at his sides, while the entire thing balanced on a single wheel.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THE FAMOUS METTATON, VISITING OUR LITTLE GUILD HERE!" Papyrus said, grinning widely. "IT IS AN ABSOLUTE PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU HERE, I AM A VERY BIG FAN!"

"Well, there's something I hadn't been expecting to hear!" Mettaton replied. "You see, I've heard all about you and your brother, darling, and I couldn't help but become a fan myself! I came out all this way because I had heard you and your guild went on an expedition. Did you find anything of interest?"

"SORRY, BUT OUR EXPEDITION ENDED IN COMPLETE FAILURE." Papyrus said, without the slightest trace of disappointment at all. "WE FOUND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, DEFINITELY NOT ANY SECRET LAKES AND PRETTY VIEWS!"

"point is, the whole thing was a bust." Sans stepped in before his brother could accidentally reveal anything else. "so, sorry you came all the way out here just to hear that."

"Yo...Madjick?" Monster Kid asked, as Mettaton seemed to laugh it aside before he changed the subject. Madjick only gave a small grunt to show he was listening. "Um…..Who is that guy? You sounded like you knew him."

"Wait, you don't know who Mettaton is?!" Madjick whisper-yelled, spinning around. "Oh dear, it seems you're more behind than I would've thought!"

"Dude, chill! I don't blame them!" Snowdrake piped up, fluttering a bit closer. "Mettaton's supposed to be this up and coming explorer. He suddenly appeared and became famous overnight! It's been said he's one of the best explorers since even Papyrus and Sans!"

"Yo, so this guy's really all that?" Monster Kid said, eyes instantly lighting up. "That sounds awesome! He sounds like a real hero too!"

"But that isn't all, hocus pocus, there's more!" Madjick continued, using an orb to point to him. "It's been said that he does everything completely unlike everyone else. He even explores completely alone, abracadabra!"

"Seriously, all alone?!" Monster Kid nearly exclaimed, trying his hardest just to keep his voice down. "I can barely even imagine going in alone, he must be super strong then!"

"People also talk about how smart this guy is too." Snowdrake added as well. "I mean, he is technically a sentient machine, so I would guess that he knows a lot of stuff too!" Frisk asked if Mettaton had been here before, given how Papyrus had been so friendly.

"The guildmaster is just naturally that approachable, I think." Madjick replied, concealing a small snicker. "This is Mettaton's first time here, which was why Vegetoid had such a hard time figuring out his footprint." Frisk couldn't help but laugh slightly. They, however, soon lost interest in the other apprentice's conversation. So they decided to start listening in on the conversation.

"...hoping you had more information. But I plan on staying in New Home for a while anyways!" Mettaton was saying brightly. "Your guild always receives some of the best news, so I might as well take the chance to add more information to my databanks! Well, that is if it's okay with you, darling?"

"THAT WOULD HARDLY BE A PROBLEM! MANY OTHER EXPLORATION TEAMS VISIT ANYWAYS!" Papyrus announced, before he turned to the apprentices. "EVERYONE! THIS IS METTATON, AS I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW. HE'LL BE STAYING IN NEW HOME FOR A WHILE, SO PLEASE MAKE SURE TO TREAT HIM WITH TONS OF RESPECT!"

"just try not to overdo it or anything." Sans added. "try not to embarrass us either by asking for autographs or asking for too much advice. something stupid like that." Mettaton gave a laugh, his screen flashing various bright colors as if to symbolize a smile.

"No, no! I'm perfectly fine with signing autographs for fans!" He said. "But I'm afraid you flatter me too much, sweetie. I'm rather lacking in the information and advice department. However! I will always be happy to offer my help in any way, shape, or form!" He gave a small bow, only to have the apprentices all erupt into cheers and happy cries. "Well, I must be off. I'll be off in New Home is anyone has need of me! Ta-ta darlings!" The rest of the apprentices all slowly began to go back to their duties as the robot left, climbing back up the ladder once more.

Sans gave them their assignment for the day, which was just to take jobs from the bulletin board. While Mettaton's sudden arrival was certainly interesting, the rest of the day seemed otherwise normal and the two just ended up doing the usual types of jobs before heading back to the guild for the night.

However, that night three certain monsters climbed up the hill to look up at the tent. And none of them were happy at all.

"So….er….boss, what are we gonna do now?" Loox asked, glancing over to Glyde, who just growled slightly, glaring at the tent. "Don't tell me we're gonna try attacking any of them again!"

"Boss, we got our butts handed to us the last time we even tried attacking Papyrus!" Migosp huffed. "It really hurt last time, one of my legs nearly broke off!" Loox gave the roach monster a questioning look, he even held up one of his legs, showing a scar still left on it. "DID YOU REALLY THINK I WAS KIDDING?! I STILL HAVE THE SCARS! BE LUCKY YOU CAN'T LOSE ANY LIMBS!"

"Both of you, shut it!" Glyde snapped, stopping a potential fight from breaking out between the two. "'Sides, listening to you two gave me an idea. Why pick a fight with the big man himself when you could settle for the small fries?" He turned to the other two, a malicious grin plastered all over his face.

"C'mon boys, we've got a scheme to plan!"

* * *

"hey, can you two run an errand for me before your day of work?" Sans asked the two after a day or two of normal work. "i need you two to go to dogamy and dogaressa's shop. just ask if they plan on stocking perfect tomatoes anytime soon."

"Stock Perfect Tomatoes?" Monster Kid repeated, tilting his head. "Why? Did we run out of them again?" Sans just kind of shrugged, giving a kind of gesture.

"y'see, ever since we got back from the expedition, pap's been sneaking off and stealing a bunch of our perfect tomatoes." He explained. "thing is, it's been draining us a lot quicker than we expected and….well, you know exactly what happens when papyrus doesn't get his perfect tomatoes."

"But if Dogamy and Dogaressa start selling Perfect Tomatoes, then we won't need to travel all the way into the forest!" Monster Kid said, figuring it out quickly. "We'll be happy to go to New Home, right Frisk?" Frisk simply nodded, hoping the look on their face would reassure Sans. The skeleton looked a bit more relieved, but still slightly worried.

Nonetheless, the two friends began heading to the store, taking a bit of money out of the bank on the off chance the store actually had it. When they finally made it over, the two shopkeepers were already speaking to someone.

Mettaton.

"Oh! Monster Kid, Frisk, it's wonderful to see you two again!" Dogaressa said happily as the two approached. "Did you two need anything today? Anything we can help with?"

"We just wanted to ask something, that's it!" Monster Kid said. "Are you guys planning on stocking Perfect Tomatoes anytime soon?" The two dogs exchanged a glance, before both shook their heads. "Aw man, bummer. Sans is gonna be super upset about hearing this…"

"Pardon me for asking this, but you two little beauties are from the guild, right?" Mettaton asked, looking between the two. "I've been talking with many other apprentices for the past few days, and I must say you all are just far too kind! I don't think I've ever met fans as enthusiastic as you all!"

"I-It's a pleasure, honestly!" Monster Kid said, a bit surprised and taken back. "What are you doing, just a bit of shopping?" Mettaton gave a small laugh, shaking his head (Which looked rather strange considering he was just a rectangle on a wheel).

"No, no, no! I was simply enjoying a wonderful chat with this charming gentleman!" He explained.

"Well, I just had to hail him down." Dogamy confessed, rubbing a paw behind his head in embarrassment. "And I must say, he wasn't at all what I was expecting! All the stories they say about you are certainly true, Mettaton, sir. You truly are rather worldly and wise!"

"It comes with experience, that's all. I'm sure anyone else who's explored as long as I have would be just as knowledgeable!" Mettaton said, trying to wave it aside. Dogamy looked as if he was about to disagree when they all heard a sudden yell from down the path.

"Vulkin, c'mon! Move it, we gotta go!"

Mettaton backed up, just a few moments before Pyrope and Vulkin both ran through, barely missing him.

"Vulkin, Pyrope! Aren't you two just little bundles of energy today?" Dogamy exclaimed, "Is there something going on today? What's the rush?"

"You won't believe it! We've been looking for it all over too!" Pyrope said, talking at a barely understandable speed. "And then suddenly someone said they saw it on the beach and AAAAAH! We just need to go right now!"

"Wait, slow down! What's going on?" Monster Kid said, just before Pyrope could bound off again (although Frisk figured that he could've just jumped over Monster Kid).

"Well, a long time ago Vulkin lost a super important item to them. I've been trying to help 'em find it again!" Pyrope explained. "Uh….have you seen it anywhere around here? It's like….what exactly is it, Vulkin?"

"Burnt Pan! Burnt Pan!" Vulkin chirped. "Lost Burnt Pan a long time ago, but going to find it now!"

"A Burnt Frying Pan? I don't blame you two for looking so hard." Mettaton said, sounding rather impressed. "After all, an item like that is actually rather rare, despite the fact it sounds so strange." Each monster gave him a confused look, to which he added on; "Well, not only does it increase the effect most healing items or moves have, but for volcanic-like monsters like little Vulkin here, it actually increases their fire-type moves!"

"Yo, that sounds cool! I'm glad you guys found it then!" Monster Kid said, causing Vulkin to at least beam.

"I don't think we could even dream of selling such a rare item." Dogaressa said, glancing to her husband. "But when that day comes, it'll be a special one, that's for sure!"

"Yeah! But we gotta get going!" Pyrope nearly yelled, clearly getting a bit antsy. "Otherwise the pan's gonna be gone!"

"Of course, of course." Dogamy said kindly. "Good luck, and stay out of trouble you two!" The two children began running off once more, just as Dogamy turned back to Frisk and Monster Kid. "Do you need anything else?"

"Oh shoot! Yo, that's right, we gotta get back!" Monster Kid gasped, looking back to Frisk. "Sans is gonna be super upset about this, but we'll definitely see you guys later!" The duo began running back towards the guild, with Frisk waving goodbye to Mettaton and the shopkeepers.

However, out of the corner of their eye, they noticed two very familiar looking monsters, although they were hidden in the shadows.


	12. Chapter 12: Old Home

"Oi! Team Determination!" Following the morning roll call (and the announcement a second Time Gear had been stolen. At least that explained why Frisk had been feeling off ever since they woke up), Madjick suddenly called them over before Sans could even give them their assignment for the day. "You two have visitors, presto-chango. They asked specifically for you too!"

"Huh….I wonder who it is?" Monster Kid wondered aloud as the two headed upstairs. "Yo, you got any ideas Frisk?" The former human mulled it over for a few good seconds, before simply shrugging. "Aw man….I mean, same here. But I was kinda hoping you came up with something." Frisk had half a mind to point out that Monster Kid very much could've suggested someone as well, but kept it to themselves.

Besides, they were already at the gate.

Outside, to their surprise, stood both Pyrope and Vulkin, both of whom looking a great deal more upset when compared to yesterday. Pyrope especially had several new scratches across his body, including a rather nasty looking gash that still seemed to be oozing pale droplets of blood (although it looked more like oil, especially in the sunlight). He did seem to brighten up a small bit upon seeing them, while Vulkin kept their own sad expression.

"Hey, there you guys are! About time!" Pyrope called, bouncing nervously. "We've been waiting forever! Now c'mon, c'mon! We gotta get going, otherwise we'll be too late!" Frisk, quickly told him to slow down and explain, exchanging a confused glance with their friend in the meantime.

"Meanies!" Vulkin exclaimed, sounding as if on the verge of tears. "Took treasure. Won't give it back!"

"Yo, you telling me someone took that thing you guys were looking for yesterday?" Monster Kid asked. "I thought you found it though. What happened?" Pyrope stopped hopping in place for a moment, pulling out a small slip of paper (somehow not burning it to bits in the process in the meantime) and handed it over to Monster Kid. He carefully unfolded it with his tail, frowning as he began to read:

"The Burnt Pan from the beach is now in our possession! You want it back? Then come meet us in the centermost part of **Old Home**. Just try and get there all by yourselves! You brats won't even make it to the second floor, knowing how weak you are. Gonna cry? Why not get those Team Determination punks to help you out then!"

The two couldn't help but reel back a small bit, with Frisk even accurately calling it a ransom note, pure and simple. Pyrope nodded, looking to the ground almost in shame.

"Yeah….totally unhot….." He agreed. "Thing is though….I...actually tried to head to **Old Home** myself once we got it. We figured you guys would be busy yesterday and we didn't wanna bother anybody else around town."

"Friend went alone. Wouldn't let Vulkin help!" Vulkin piped up, sounding indignant for a second. "I want help! Vulkin very strong!"

"I didn't want to risk you gettin' hurt though!" Pyrope said, hopping to face his friend. "Vulkin, there were tons of Poison-type monsters there. I could barely make it through the first few floors. That's why…." He, almost sheepishly, turned to Monster Kid and Frisk once more. "We came to you guys for help. You managed to find Vulkin and save them a long, long time ago. And everyone knows you guys are super strong too! So...we thought you might be able to find it for us….y'know, as long as you guys don't have anything else you gotta do…."

"No worries, dude!" Monster Kid puffed out his chest, putting on the biggest grin imaginable. "No Mystery Dungeon is hard enough for us. We'll get that pan faster than you can blink!" The children looked taken aback for a moment, before thanking them. Vulkin even seemed to be on the brink of joyful tears, chirping happily rather than using their words.

Frisk gave a smile and reassured the two they'd be fine. Then they glanced to Monster Kid and nodded, before finally leading the way into town for supplies.

And from there? On into **Old Home**.

* * *

"You wanna know something, Frisk?" Monster Kid said as they reached the entrance of the abandoned town. It was quite a walk away from New Home, covered by a thick mist and swarm of black thunderclouds, making it difficult to see even five feet inside. Frisk simply supposed that was because of the town's status as a Mystery Dungeon.

"I honestly can't imagine what kind of monster would take something like that from a kid!" Monster Kid continued once Frisk nodded, lashing his tail angrily. "What a buncha bullies, yo! We gotta get that Burnt Pan back for them now, we just gotta!" Frisk gave a thumbs-up and a smile. "Let's do this, dude!"

The two headed inside, disappearing within the darkness.

Meanwhile, far back in New Home, Pyrope and Vulkin had travelled back to the shop, immediately telling both Dogamy and Dogaressa everything that had just happened. The couple were, naturally, extremely sympathetic with them, to the point where Dogaressa even offered the two an apple, on the house.

"If we didn't have a shop to run, I'd go after the scoundrel myself!" Dogamy promised them, slamming a paw on the counter. "I'm sure we'd be able to sniff them out right away, isn't that right sweetie?"

"Stop hitting things, dear. You'll scare the kids otherwise!" Dogaressa simply scolded, giving her husband a playful shove. "Besides, I'm sure Team Determination has everything under control, they're wonderful at their job." Pyrope jumped, as if to add something else in, but stopped as a small, whirring sound filled the area.

"Good morning, beauties and gentlebeauties!" The loud greeting signalled Mettaton's appearance, looking as bright and cheerful as ever. "Seems like things are a….hmm….how shall we say? Tense, over here? Did I miss something?"

"Oh! Mettaton, sir!" Dogamy returned the greeting, even waving a paw. "We were just continuing our discussion from yesterday. You remember, don't you?" A moment of silence passed between them, one where Mettaton seemed to be thinking before an exclamation point flashed across his screen.

"Ah! The Burnt Pan these children were searching for, correct?" He asked, gesturing to Pyrope and Vulkin. "Last I recall, it was spotted down near the beach, correct?"

"Yes, yes. But, it seems that there's more to the story…." Dogamy proceed to bring the robot up to speed, with Pyrope jumping in to add or correct a few details here or there. By the end of it, Mettaton looked rather thoughtful with his arms crossed clear across his screen.

"My, my….How absolutely dreadful. I am so very sorry for you two, my little darlings." He finally said. "I can hardly bear to imagine what kind of vile monster would dare to stoop so low!"

"That's what I said as well!" Dogamy growled, even baring his fangs a small bit. "Whoever they are, know that they are no longer welcome at our shop! Completely unforgivable!"

"Careful dear, calm down." Dogaressa said, patting his shoulder. "You almost accidentally set off a Hyper Beam the last time you got this angry." A small round of laughter was shared between the group, before Mettaton turned his attention to the two children.

"By the by….would you happen to know what happened to that Exploration Team you mentioned?" He asked, tilting….well, his entire body.

"Went to get treasure." Vulkin simply replied. Yet, it caused Mettaton to jerk back quite violently. The other monsters gave him a questioning look as he began muttering to himself, calculations flashing across his screen rapidly.

"At this date….during the current season…..factoring in the wind…." Several exclamation points appeared once more, although this time in panicked realization. "No! This is absolutely ruinous!"

"What? What's wrong, Mettaton, sir?" Dogaressa asked, clearly alarmed. He simply backed away from the shop, screen flashing red.

"I must leave for **Old Home** at once. Team Determination is in grave danger if I don't!" He explained, immediately turning and wheeling away faster than anyone had ever seen, even kicking up a cloud of dust as he left.

When it finally settled, he was completely gone.

* * *

"Dude...I think we made it to the center….." As the two walked into a clearing, thunder crackled overhead, making them both jump. "Wah! Yo, the storm here is intense! It totally looks like rain too, we might wanna find that pan and fast." Frisk nodded, taking a glance at the area and spotting something in the dead center of the clearing.

A small, black frying pan with a wooden handle. In the middle of it seemed to be a large, brown rust stain, one that you could probably still scratch tiny burnt particles off of. A small heart had also been carved into the wood, with a makeshift "K" in its center. Frisk tapped Monster Kid on his back, pointing it out excitedly.

"Yo! Nice work, Frisk! C'mon, let's grab it and get out of here!" He said, darting forwards. Almost immediately, the clouds above crackled with thunder once more, lighting up the sky for a split second. The area went dark, forcing the team to freeze in place immediately. "H-Hey man…..W-What's going on?! Why'd it get so dark all of a sudden?!"

"..." Something moved in the darkness, making a long, drawn out squelching sound as it passed. Monster Kid tried lighting the place up with a small jolt of electricity, only to hear violent hissing from something unseen. "... _Guooooooh_ ….."

Frisk called out for whoever was there, ordering them to reveal themselves at once. All that followed was another, closer " _Guooooooooh_ ", sounding much more angrier this time. Clenching their paws, they tried firing an Ember at...well, anything at this point. The small bolts of fire seemed to light up the area for a split second, revealing piles of green slime practically surrounding them.

Lightning lit up the area once more, confirming the fact they were completely and utterly surrounded by slime monsters. There was one that seemed to be much bigger than the others, swaying in place from side to side. A single eye glared out from under the green goop, focused solely on the two monsters in front of it. It let out the same roar as before, prompting the other slimes to do the same.

"Y-Yo! What are these things?!" Monster Kid yelped, taking a step back (nearly stepping onto one of the slimes as well). "D'ya think they live around here?" Frisk simply shrugged, already preparing another Ember in case they tried to attack. "Aw man….I really hope then that-"

" _GUOOOOOOH_!" The biggest slime raised its head to the sky, as the smaller ones followed suit. All of a sudden, Frisk felt something wet smack their back, followed by a stinging pain. Frisk fired off Ember, spinning around just in time to bat away another slime flying right for their face. The sudden crackle of electricity told them Monster Kid was being attacked as well.

The Slimes were all rather fast, with each of them seemingly able to use quite a variety of Poison-type moves. The leader of the group also seemed to be able to use Energy Ball, a Grass-type move if Frisk's memory served them right. They were relentless, but the duo weren't slouches either. Frisk's Rock Throw and Monster Kid's Thundershock seemed to be rather effective in putting the smaller ones down for the count at least.

The leader, however, wasn't about to go down as easily.

Instead, it hit them hard with its Energy Ball or Acid, easily able to avoid their attacks on the flipside. It wasn't until Monster Kid matched its speed using his Quick Attack were they finally able to stop it. At least, for a moment.

" ** _GUOOOOOOOOOOH_**!" The slime reeled from the attack, before another Energy Ball began to form right in front of its eye. Frisk and Monster Kid shared a worried glance, while also looking for some way of escape. " ** _Guoooh_** ….. ** _GUOOOOH_**! **_GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH_**!" Before either could make a move, the monster let loose its biggest Energy Ball left. Lightning flashed at the same time, blinding them all for a split second.

"That's enough, Moldbygg! Stop!"

A loud clang shook the area a few seconds afterwards, followed quickly by the light finally fading. In front of Team Determination stood Mettaton, his body smoking slightly but he seemed otherwise uninjured. Did he jump in the way of that attack? Frisk asked themselves silently, looking up at the robot with their heart in their throat.

The slime, Moldbygg as Mettaton called it, tilted its head, letting loose a low hiss at this new intruder. Mettaton merely moved forwards, holding up a single hand in a sign of peace.

"You must forgive my intrusion, darlings. I am the great explorer, Mettaton, and I mean you and your tribe no harm, Moldbygg." He said in a steady voice. "Believe me when I say these two did not mean to upset you either. They intrude, yes, but not with malice! We only came to retrieve an item that had been stolen from us!" Moldbygg only gave another hiss in reply, looking as if it was about to start attacking once more. "I beg of you, darling! I offer my sincerest apologies, both for what has happened to you and your tribe in the past as well as our intrusion on your sacred grounds!"

Moldbygg stopped dead in its track, its eye trained on Mettaton intently. The other slimes surrounding them had begun stirring, slowly inching towards their leaders side once more. After a moment of deliberation, Moldbygg finally gave a gurgle, directed at its underlings while nodding to Mettaton. The group finally departed, leaving behind the Burnt Pan, which still sat in the very center of the clearing.

"Woah….What just….even happened?" Monster Kid said in awe, as Mettaton turned back to them. "That….was totally awesome! Thank you so much, Mettaton, sir!" The robot only wearily laughed, trying to wave it aside.

"I've only bought us time for now. I'm sure they'll be back before long." Frisk asked what he had meant when he said "for what has happened to you and your tribe in the past" and how he knew the monster's name in the first place." Hm? Oh, that? Well, that beautie there was the leader of a Moldsmal tribe that originally lived in this area, long before these ruins actually. You see, this area gets rain frequently, which slime monsters enjoy quite a bit. Unfortunately, other monsters drove them out in order to build a town."

"Oh! And then they moved closer to the coast after a while, right?" Monster Kid piped up, jumping in place. "That's why this place is called Old Home while the town is called New Home!" Mettaton nodded, a thumbs up flashing across his screen for a moment.

"Indeed! Once Moldbygg and his Moldsmals were able to return to their home, they were determined not to lose it again. They migrate to this area right around this time every year, making this place rather dangerous actually." Mettaton continued. "As soon as I heard of what had happened, I absolutely had to come running. You two little darlings may be strong, but Moldbygg isn't exactly easy to take down." He clapped his hands together, a smile appearing on his screen. "But that's enough on the history lesson. Let's get what we came here for darlings!"

"Right, right!" Monster Kid ran ahead, leading the way to the Pan. "Er….this is the Burnt Pan we're looking for, right, sir?" Mettaton seemed to inspect the object, nodding after a while. "Awesome! Oh man, Pyrope and Vulkin are gonna be super excited to hear!" Frisk nodded their agreement, saying that they should hurry back as soon as possible.

"Just a moment there. I'd like to know how this treasure exactly ended up here." Mettaton said, turning around to face the empty space behind them. "Wouldn't you three little dears care to explain?" The two friends turned, just as a strong gust of wind nearly blasted them off their feet.

Loox and Migosp crawled out from one of the houses, cackling like mad while Glyde descended from the clouds, a huge grin on his face. Frisk immediately felt the fur on the back of their neck rise while Monster Kid let out a low growl.

"Team Skull! So you guys set this whole thing up, didn't you?!" He yelled, only to get snickers from the three bullies. Frisk even accused them of waiting for the perfect moment to strike, which was why they chose here of all places to lead them to.

"We were only planning on cleaning up once Moldy boy there finished you lot off. Easy pickings and a fantastic way to get our revenge!" Loox sneered.

"Yeah, yeah! But we sure weren't betting on anyone stepping in and ruining all our plans." Migosp added. Mettaton held his arms out, lights flashing as if they were readying something big.

"Well, there's certainly nothing stopping you dears from "cleaning up" now." He pointed out, most likely smirking if he had a normal face. "Shall we settle this now?"

"Heh, y'know?" Glyde returned the imaginary smirk, although it was clear he was at least slightly nervous. "Normally, I'd love a good fight. And the chance to pound those twerps into the ground? I'd take it no questions asked! But….fighting against the great Mettaton himself?" A ball of silver energy had formed right in front of Mettaton's screen, growing larger and larger rather quickly. "...Well boys, looks like it's time we split!" Loox and Migosp didn't need to hear him twice. The three retreated through the exit, just as Mettaton let loose an extremely powerful Flash Cannon, just barely missing Glyde's wing by a hair.

"Hah! Take that, you big bullies!" Monster Kid yelled after them, lashing his tail. "Try that again and we'll pound you!" Frisk couldn't help but laugh, trying and failing to muffle it with their paws.

"My, my. They sure do know how to make a getaway, don't they?" Mettaton said, clearly amused. "I'll have to get notes sometime, I suppose! Now then…." The three turned back once more to the Burnt Pan. "Grab that pan, won't you darling? We'd better be on our way, lest we incur Moldbygg's wrath yet again." Frisk nodded, grabbing the pan by the handle.

And, following quickly after Monster Kid and Mettaton, they left **Old Home**.

* * *

 ** _Oh Lord, it's been forever since I updated this story. Don't worry, I plan on uploading a lot more now, or I plan to at least. But I do apologize for such a long hiatus. I seriously plan on finishing this and anything else I have uploaded on this account._**

 ** _It's fun getting back into writing this too, I'm super excited to get to the bigger plot points for this. Like I said when I uploaded the first chapter, Explorers of the Sky is literally one of my favorite Pokemon games ever. I love the plot, I love the story, and I love the game in general. It's been forever since i've written Undertale stuff too, so excuse me if I'm a bit rusty too. But, like always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that there are still some people who stuck around. For those people, I'm super sorry I made you wait for so long too!_**

 ** _And as for that Danganronpa SYOC? I hope to update that sometime soon too, just in case anybody who reads this reads that too. See you all next chapter!_**


End file.
